No matter where you go...there ya are...

 We have a three mile hike along the Bitteroot River at a place called Skalkahoe Bend that we just love. It has lots of wildlife and healthy interesting people that we meet along the way....And...right now the Bitteroot Water Forum ( BWF ) is doing a project to ' save ' it. Well this is something I know a little bit about and sometimes you learn more from mistakes than you do from your successes. I hate to be critical as I guess you could make the case that I didn't do such a good job of saving the last river I was on but I'm going to risk it. I doubt many of my new neighbors read Mile 14, yet, but if they do here's the deal...I just moved here from California and am going to run for City Council....just joking.

So there's the problem. As you can see the top pic shows the meandering nature of the river and the bottom is looking upstream showing a natural eroding outside bend. The bank is under cut and the flow accelerates to the first pic's log jam where the erosion is stopped by some tree's and then the natural collection of debris that the roots hold. The footprint of our path runs parallel with the river of course but all of 30 to 50 feet from it. And of course they have the usual stay the hell off the bank signs. Unlike on the World famous there are no boat mooring divits , no bank fishing paths, no 200 - 500 powerboats running by everyday throwing wakes at the shoreline...it's all natural. But they only have so much  meander to lose so with no ( or little ) public input they came up with a plan and the work started today.

All along the outside bend about 100 ft. parallel a swale is being built to create trees and yes, willows to hold the bank. Then this part of the bank will be armored with rip rap in hopes of holding off the erosion until the swale matures enough to hold the bank...great plan...But of course unsightly and certainly not natural. One of my observations from the Kenai after 40 years of projects is that there was little or no consideration for the aesthetics of the bank saving projects. The light penetrating boardwalks are now everywhere, shiney aluminum that in many cases is lying around the riverbank derelict from a lack of maintenance. So what could have been done better Hamilton Montana ?

1. The BWF has been criticized for a lack of public input. You having scoping meetings for several reasons. To make the public more comfortable and let them know what to expect and to take suggestions on how the project could be handled to lessen any impact and maybe,just maybe , somebody might have a great idea about how to do it better, if you're listening.

# 1. leads to number 2.  If the bank must be armored it can be done organically with root wads and cabled trees. The clue is really in that first pic. You can see the trees holding the bank just like root wads would while allowing soil,  driftwood and river rock to build up....on the World Famous all those beautiful houses on the outside bend at Beaver Creek would be gone now if not for exactly that type of project. 

3. I don't know where all the $$$$ comes from but like many projects this one is gonna cost some serious lettuce. Now seeing's as it's public money for public property and that the erosion is 100 % natural has anybody thought about a mitigation approach ?  You take that same pool of money and instead of spending it on something that might or might not work you go and buy up some other riverfront for future public use and protection from development . 

4. I think that the BWF's approach should be a last resort thing if and when structures or homes are endangered which right now looks to be decades away if mother nature decides....

5. OK enough.... I know nobody likes new people moving into an area and wanting to change it into where they came from so I'll just shut up . But please BWF, have some meetings so people can get to know you, I'm new here and it's an interest of mine.

Speaking of water....who would ever have thought I'd have trouble finding a boat for my passion. Yikes, they tell me because of the pandemic and a slow down in manufacturing all the new 2021 models of the boats I'd like are spoken for...I went to Townsend Marine who says they are one of the largest Lund dealers in the USA just to see this.

I must be dumber than a mashed cat. I never would have guessed. As we drove up to the Marina I told MP that this is going to be fun as they hundreds and I mean hundreds of boats sitting around....well...wrong. They said I could order sometime in May and then hope for delivery by fall.

If I'd known I might have brought the big ol number 003 boat but it was just really to big and to purpose built for my new fishing life. I like the open with the tiller that I'm so used to but I don't need to seat 4 people and I want something light and easy to handle and to  tow to places I've never been before. Lund, Smokercraft almost all the manufactures make these boats in 16 and 18 foot and they look to be fantastic, they are a far cry from the skinny old red Lund that we all grew up in Alaska with. They are wide, have more V ( some up to 12 degrees ) and are lighter by half than what I'm used to.... I need to go from this: 

To this:

I really want to buy a brand new one and have the features etc that I want like oil bath hubs on the trailer. On St. Paddy's day we're going to Spokane as they have many large dealers there. No place in Montana has a new boat for me.....jeez...Louise....So if any of you, my friends see or know of a new or even used boat like this please holler, that ol white Chevy is ready to go where ever it's gotta go to make it's owner happy.

But all was not lost in our search for the next S.S. Minnow. When we went to Townsend we spent a night at the hot springs and discovered the coolest  picnic spot on the other side of a one way bridge over the Missouri near Toston Montana. The adventure continues....