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Ensure dam removal in the Rattlesnake Wilderness is done the “wilderness way”

Your voice is needed again to make sure that the breaching of a small, 15-foot-high earthen dam on McKinley Lake in the Rattlesnake Wilderness north of Missoula, Montana is done the “wilderness way” to protect the integrity of the Rattlesnake Wilderness.

As you may recall, the City of Missoula owns ten wilderness dams found on eight lakes deep in the Rattlesnake Wilderness, including the dam on McKinley Lake. As a pilot project, the city has proposed to breach the dam on McKinley Lake.

Last month, many of you submitted comments to the U.S. Forest Service, which 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 because it sits on national forest land. Thank you!

Now we need you to contact the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which has prepared the environmental assessment for the project.

Troublingly, Montana DNRC’s Preferred Alternative for breaching the McKinley Lake dam will seriously degrade the wild character of the Rattlesnake Wilderness with a whopping 42 helicopter flights, 34 other motor vehicle trips, and various forms of motorized equipment.

But helicopters, vehicle traffic, and heavy motorized equipment clearly aren’t necessary. The McKinley Lake Dam should instead be removed by nonmotorized, traditional skills methods, which is the same way this small, earthen dam was constructed a century ago. Another important reason to do this project the “wilderness way” is because the cost of using traditional skills to breach the dam would be less than $100,000, according to an independent assessment by an engineer, instead of the massively expensive $621,800 cost of the Preferred Alternative.

While there are many great reasons to remove the dam on McKinley Lake, it is also important to the integrity of Rattlesnake Wilderness how the work gets done, especially because this is a pilot project that will affect how the other dams are removed.

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is accepting public comment on this project until May 22, so please speak up in support of the Rattlesnake Wilderness today.

Speak up to help keep the Rattlesnake Wilderness wild!

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Photo: McKinley Lake dam in the Rattlesnake Wilderness by the City of Missoula.

Please write the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to ensure dam removal in the Rattlesnake Wilderness is done the “wilderness way.”

Samantha Treu, Montana DNRC

Subject: Dam removal in the Rattlesnake Wilderness must be done the “wilderness way”

Message:

Please accept the following comments on the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the McKinley Lake Dam Decommissioning Project. I support the breaching of the McKinley Lake Dam, but it must be done in ways that complies with the letter and spirit of the Wilderness Act. The Rattlesnake Wilderness is part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. What is authorized in the Rattlesnake Wilderness has implications for the entire Wilderness system. The Preferred Alternative will seriously degrade the wild character of the Rattlesnake Wilderness with 42 helicopter flights, 34 other motor vehicle trips, and motorized equipment. The EA has failed to adequately consider wilderness compatible means of breaching the dam. There is no analysis of a traditional skills alternative or of any non-motorized alternatives that might include a combination of traditional skills and blasting. As a “pilot project” in Wilderness that will set the tone for removing all of most of the remaining nine dams, it is especially important to give wilderness compatible means a shot on the first dam. A former Forest Service engineer has calculated the cost of breaching the dam and completing the project with hand tools and wheelbarrows to be less than $100,000 and take less than one month, instead of the massively expensive $621,800 of the Preferred Alternative. The EA public participation analysis mentions a survey conducted by the City of Missoula, but apparently gave no consideration to the results of the survey. The vast majority of respondents supported breaching the dam and doing it with traditional (non-motorized) methods. The EA is filled with conclusory statements without any supporting evidence. This is especially true when it claims the work can’t be accomplished in a timely fashion using non-motorized means or suggesting using helicopters and other machinery will be less expensive.

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Ensure dam removal in the Rattlesnake Wilderness is done the “wilderness way”

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