Tester reintroduces Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act

BONNER, MONT. – Standing on the banks of the Blackfoot River, U.S. Senator Jon Tester announced Friday, June 7 that he is reintroducing his Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act. 

The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project was developed through more than a decade of local discussions among conservation, recreation and timber groups in the Seeley Lake area. The project provides for forest restoration activities to support local timber jobs, the development of additional recreational trails and the designation of 79,000 acres of additional wilderness on public land adjacent to the existing wilderness areas of the Mission Mountain, Bob Marshall and Scapegoat.  

Since 2009, Tester secured $19 million in federal funding to implement much of the restoration and timber harvest originally designated in the Upper Blackfoot-Clearwater Valley as a part of his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. These investments created and sustained more than 100 jobs and spurred $33 million in new investments into the local economy.

In February 2017, at the request of the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project and with the support of the local timber industry, Tester introduced the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act to implement the remaining recreation and wilderness designations that were included in the original forest management agreement between the local collaborators. He testified in support of the bill before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in February 2018 but it never made it through Congress.

The bill would protect some of the last untouched landscapes in the lower 48, including 79,000 acres of wildlife habitat in the Bob Marshall and Scapegoat Wilderness Areas. And it would open up 2,013 acres of land to snowmobiling, and 3,800 acres for mountain biking and hiking. It will also create jobs and strengthen the local economy.

In a poll release by the Montana Wildfire Federation in February 2018, it showed that 75 percent of those surveyed said they were more likely to support a national forest management plan developed through a collaborative approach. In regards to the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project 68 percent of Montanans either strongly or somewhat supported it.

Members of the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project joined Tester in the announcement at the KettleHouse Brewing Company Bonner Taproom and discussed their support for the legislation. Tester is optimistic that he will see the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act across the finish line this Congress.

"This effort is more than a decade in the making, and shows what can happen with folks with diverse interests put aside their differences to work towards the same goal," Tester said. "This bill brings common-sense solutions to forest management, and will protect some of the most special places in the country for our kids and grandkids."