But there were also no major wilderness designations for the Treasure State, although a number of proposals await attention.
Fans of Glacial Lake Missoula were pleased to see recognition of the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail project included in Senate Bill 22. The project could get funded for up to $12 million, including $2 million for a hoped-for interpretative center in Missoula.
The geologic trail plan made it to Congress again last year, but didn't reach a vote. Last weekend, it was wrapped into an omnibus bill combining 164 separate bits of legislation dealing with public lands issues.
The wilderness legislation had been blocked by a threatened filibuster in the Senate, but the Democratic majority scheduled a rare Sunday session to gather votes needed to override the block. It passed, 66-12. It must now undergo final amendments in the Senate this week, while a similar bill moves through the House of Representatives.
The bill would put the government's highest level of protection on wildlands such as Mount Hood in Oregon, the Owyhee canyons of Idaho, Zion National Park in Utah, parts of the Sierra Nevada and White Mountains in California, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and parts of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia. It would also add numerous river reaches in the country to the National Wild and Scenic River System.
The Ice Age Floods trail extends from Missoula to the Oregon Coast, following the path Glacial Lake Missoula carved when its ice dam burst some 15,000 years ago. Smyers said several places in Oregon and Washington already have exhibits about the flood. But there are no facilities in Montana or Idaho with displays or interpretative centers dedicated to the incident.
The Montana Natural History Center in Missoula hosts an exhibit put together by the Ice Age Floods Institute local members. Center spokeswoman Jessie Sherburne said the collection of maps, photos and a video has been one of the more popular exhibits at the museum across from McCormick Park. The center and Smyers' group have suggested using that location as an interpretative center building site.
Smyers said the federal legislation still needs another process to provide funding for its recommendations. If that happens, the geologic trail could receive up to $12 million, and $2 million of that might come to Missoula for an interpretative center.
The other change pertaining to Montana was enhancement of the National Landscape Conservation System. This legislation would give greater authority to management plans for places like the Missouri Breaks National Monument near Lewistown.
Those lands are now managed by various federal agencies like the Bureau of Land Management, with different levels of protection and development allowed.
Not included in the bill were any additional wilderness designations for Montana. That's significant because the last time the issue came up was in 1988, when President Ronald Reagan vetoed a Montana wilderness bill that would have protected 1.4 million acres.
“It's a great signal to Montana that it's time for us to get off the dime,” said Bob Ekey of the Wilderness Society. “Those are the lands we're still fighting over today, 20 years later.”
A group of industry, conservation and recreation advocates called the Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Project last year called for giving 87,000 acres around the Bob Marshall and Mission Mountain wilderness areas federal protection. That proposal has been sent to the state's congressional delegation, Ekey said, but hasn't made it into bill form yet or been included in S.22.
“We need to move on our own and introduce something for Montana on our own,” Ekey said. “I'm optimistic that will get in later this year.”
Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com.
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