Montana Walks Back Proposed Fish Creek Paddling Ban

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks (MTFWP) released their final Fish Creek Recreation Strategy earlier this week, in which they no longer propose to ban paddling as they had in their draft plan. We would like to thank MTFWP for listening to the public and eliminating what would have been a major mis-step in the management of the State’s rivers. 

While we are relieved that the agency changed course, the final plan contains concerning language around paddling, and the public should remain vigilant as the agency implements the plan. Specifically, the final plan states that “FWP will assess recreational floating, user conflicts, and the alteration of [woody debris]” with the goal to “Provide a high-quality wade fishing experience and protect fish habitat,” and based on the principle that, “when feasible, recreation uses will be separated to prevent conflict.” While monitoring and protecting habitat is appreciated, this framework continues to wrongly cast paddling as a threat to other users and habitat. 
 
The final plan also failed to correct factual and scientific errors in the draft plan. It wrongly states that recreational floating is a “nascent” not well-established use of Fish Creek while casting wade fishing as a “traditional use,” and continues to misconstrue scientific literature and ignore Montana’s heritage and culture celebrating shared use of our public lands and waters. Also concerning, the final plan cites early opinions of a few individuals that informed the draft plan, but makes no mention of the significant feedback on the draft plan from paddlers and the broader public. 
 
While concerning, we appreciate MTFWP walking back their proposed paddling ban on Fish Creek, and we’ll certainly work with them on any monitoring they do. Paddlers are encouraged to enjoy paddling Fish Creek while leaving any wood in place. The paddling community learned of this planning process very late in the game, and we’d like to thank all the paddlers and other river enthusiasts that provided input on the draft plan in support of shared use of the State’s rivers like Fish Creek.