MILLTOWN – Montana’s newest state park will open up on June 23rd and Milltown State Park is a restoration success story.
The removal of Milltown Dam 10 years ago led to the restoration of one of the Treasure State’s largest Superfund sites and now the area is set to open as Montana’s newest state park.
"This all came out of a vision from the working group that was put together to kind of plan for the use of the site after the Superfund cleanup and river restoration was completed. And that vision was largely about a park that had river access and trail connections," said Michael Kustudia with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Milltown State Park will not only provide a variety of recreational opportunities, it will also tell the story of the area — from first peoples to the restoration of the confluence of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers.
"The Milltown Superfund story is kind of the tip of the iceberg in terms of history at this site, there’s thousands of years of human history — especially for the Salish and Kalispell Indians," Kustudia explained. "It’s a Lewis and Clark site, there’s just a lot of history here as well. So, capturing and sharing that history is one of our primary goals."
Sitting on more than 600 acres, Milltown state park will continue to be developed but when the park opens later this month visitors will see a story of environmental loss and redemption.
"I think it’s an awesome site, I’m a little biased. But none the less it’s a success story, at least thus far," Kustudia concluded.
Click here to learn more about Milltown State Park.
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