MISSOULA - Lisa Ronald fell in love with rivers seven years ago. One day, a friend of Ronald's strapped a kayak to the top of her car.
“I serendipitously became a kayaker here in Missoula. It was not a planned thing but I fell in love with that experience and with the community," Ronald shared with MTN.
Now an advocate for American Rivers, Ronald discussed the history and future of river protection in Western Montana at the Montana Natural History Museum in Missoula on Feb. 9.
"Here in Montana and the intra-mountain west we are very lucky here to have a lot of pristine rivers, a lot of rivers in very high-quality condition, and we should keep them that way," Ronald said.
But invasive species and pollution are seriously impacting rivers like Missoula’s beloved Clark Fork.
“We do have places here in Western Montana that are in need of restoration type of actions and that are in need of advocates on that end of the spectrum.”
Ronald says keeping rivers clean includes protecting everything from fishing to boating to picnicking. But it goes much deeper than that.
“We also have a lot of cultural values that are river related. We have many Indigenous nations that have incredibly long-standing connections, both ancestral and today, to a lot of our rivers. We have the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes that have profound and treaty rights to our rivers in Western Montana.”
If you love the rivers in Missoula, there are many ways to advocate for them.
Ronald urged community members to “get engaged in the public processes that are happening right now.
"So, the Lolo [National Forest] is undergoing a forest plan revision and all citizens and community members here in Missoula have the opportunity to participate in that… attending some of the workshops and the ranger chats, and the other events that the Lolo is offering is a great way to get informed about how you can protect rivers that are surrounding Missoula within the Lolo National Forest boundary.”
Visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/lolo/landmanagement/planning/?cid=fseprd993646 to learn more about the Lolo National Forest revision plan.
