7/9/10

Restoring a creek in Montana

An encouraging story from the New York Times.

"A couple of weeks ago, I walked along a spring creek in the upper Madison Valley, just south of the town of Ennis, Mont. As my guide, Jeff Laszlo, explained, the creek is one of the unnamed tributaries of the Madison River, fed by innumerable springs along the valley’s rich bottomland. The creek meanders for miles before it reaches the Madison, gaining water, providing spawning grounds for fish and invaluable wetland habitat for birds. I looked on in disbelief, because the section we were hiking — nearly eight miles of cold, clear waters — did not exist before 2005."  More

2 comments:

  1. The article states, "It has also tested conventional assumptions about the proper use of public money — which was, in this case, used to help restore private land without providing public access." Presumably, the taxpayers of Nevada, Maine, Alaska, and Delaware (among others) were forced to pay for this restoration through federal taxes. Bill Corr

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  2. Interesting point, Bill. Presumably, the taxpayers DID get some benefit from the improvements in fish and wildlife populations, even though they didn't get to set foot on this particular piece of land.

    How would this situation differ from when a farmer receives a federal crop subsidy, but his fields still remain off-limits to taxpayers?

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Please feel free to comment on the article above, or on other watershed issues.