**PLEASE NOTE—The link to the comment page has been corrected. If you still have issues reaching the comment page, please try copying and pasting the address—https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=63564. Thank you. The U.S. Forest Service is accepting public comments on a proposal by the City of Missoula to breach the dam on McKinley Lake in the Rattlesnake Wilderness in Montana. The 15-foot-high dam was built on a natural lake a century ago in order to increase water available for downstream irrigation and municipal use. Because the dam is in poor condition and the water is no longer used for either purpose, the city, which owns the dam, is proposing to breach it and return the area to its natural condition.
Removing the dam is a great idea. But it is also important to the integrity of Wilderness how the work gets done. The city is leaning toward airlifting or driving heavy equipment into the Wilderness, because it has no familiarity with any other way to do the work. But heavy equipment clearly isn’t necessary. It is entirely possible to do the work the “wilderness way,” that is, accessing the site on foot or horseback and using traditional, non-motorized tools to get it done. The dam was built without motorized equipment, and much larger projects have been accomplished without modern machinery.
The city owns the dam and has a 100-year-old easement that gives it the right to maintain or remove the dam. The legislation that established the Rattlesnake Wilderness granted the dam owner the right to “necessary motorized use” over existing trails to operate and maintain the dam. But since the dam is on national forest land, the Forest Service has some say in how the dam is accessed and the kinds of work that is done on site.
This is where your voice comes in. The Forest Service (FS) has the authority and responsibility to set the terms and conditions for access to the dam and what occurs around the dam in the course of its removal. The FS needs to use this authority to insist the city explore and implement feasible means of non-motorized alternatives to breach the dam. This is especially important because the city owns dams on seven other small lakes in this Wilderness, and this McKinley Lake project is presented as the pilot project for dealing with the other dams. As a pilot project, it is especially important to establish the feasibility of doing the project the right way in Wilderness. Your letters are needed by April 12 to urge the FS to ensure that the city removes the McKinley Lake dam the right way in the Rattlesnake Wilderness. You'll need to submit your comments through the FS planning website at: https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=63564. |
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Use your own words, but consider including the points below:
- I support removing the McKinley Lake dam in the Rattlesnake Wilderness, but the work to remove the dam must be completed in a wilderness-compatible way that respects the integrity of the Wilderness.
- The Forest Service should fully explore and encourage the city to implement a non-motorized alternative for breaching the McKinley Lake dam. Motorized use isn’t “necessary” and shouldn’t be allowed.
- The Forest Service should also prepare an independent analysis on the feasibility of removing the dam using traditional skills. It isn’t acceptable to rely on the project proponent for this analysis as they are not the experts in the field.
- There is an important public interest in preserving Wilderness and the skills required to work in Wilderness. The Forest Service should provide its expertise and resources to ensure this project is completed in a wilderness-compatible way.
- Since this is a “pilot project” that will set the tone for how other dams are breached or removed, it is especially imperative that alternatives to motorized equipment are thoroughly analyzed and implemented.
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