How to protect Montana rivers without more red tape
Montana’s rivers are among the state’s most recognizable natural assets. They support agriculture, provide drinking water, attract visitors, and sustain a thriving outdoor recreation economy. From the Madison and Gallatin to the Yellowstone and Big Hole, Montana’s waterways are essential infrastructure for communities and businesses across the state.
According to the Outdoor Industry Association, Montana’s outdoor recreation economy generates approximately $3.4 billion in value added, supports more than 30,000 direct jobs, and accounts for roughly 4.6 percent of the state’s gross domestic product. Fishing, rafting, boating, and other river-based activities contribute to this economic activity, benefiting outfitters, restaurants, lodging providers, retailers, and small businesses in communities throughout Montana.
The economic importance of Montana’s rivers is also reflected in growing recreational demand. Research from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and Montana State University found that fishing pressure increased from approximately 800,000 angler-days in 1983 to 1.7 million angler-days in 2017. As more residents and visitors use Montana’s rivers, maintaining healthy waterways becomes increasingly important, not only for recreation, but also for the businesses and communities that depend on them.
Clean water is equally important to public health and local economies. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality notes that healthy water resources support drinking-water supplies, agriculture, recreation, and economic development. The state’s Source Water Protection Program also emphasizes the importance of protecting rivers, streams, and groundwater from contamination before costly treatment or remediation is required.
However, protecting Montana’s rivers presents challenges. Runoff, erosion, invasive species, development, and agricultural impacts can affect water quality and fish habitat. Montana DEQ identifies nonpoint-source pollution as the largest cause of water-quality impairment in the state and notes that it can be associated with agriculture, forestry, development, runoff from abandoned mines, and other land uses.
These challenges are often highly specific to individual watersheds, meaning that a solution that works on one river may not be appropriate for another. Montana’s conservation policies should therefore encourage practical, locally designed solutions that reflect the needs of landowners, agricultural producers, recreationists, and communities.
A specific example is the Elkhorn Ranch Bank Revegetation and Fencing Project, proposed by the Big Hole Watershed Committee and supported through Montana’s nonpoint-source pollution grant framework. The project was listed for $60,641 in federal DEQ 319 funding and $160,391 through Montana’s Renewable Resource Grant and Loan Program.
Its focus on bank revegetation and fencing reflects the type of locally driven work that can reduce erosion, protect water quality, and support working agricultural lands. The project illustrates how state and federal grants can be combined with watershed-group expertise and landowner cooperation to address site-specific conservation challenges without imposing a uniform solution across Montana.
This approach is consistent with the broader lessons of property-rights and conservation research from the Property and Environment Research Center. PERC’s research on Montana water policy emphasizes that clearly defined and enforceable water rights can create incentives for conservation while making it easier for water users to voluntarily transfer or lease water to higher-valued uses, including environmental purposes.
PERC also highlights the importance of reducing the transaction costs that can prevent mutually beneficial water agreements from taking place. For Montana, these principles suggest that conservation policy can complement public investment with voluntary, incentive-based approaches that allow landowners, water users, and communities to develop solutions suited to individual watersheds.
Montana should build on these existing efforts by strengthening voluntary conservation partnerships among private landowners, agricultural producers, watershed groups, outdoor recreation businesses, and local governments. Policymakers can support this work by maintaining competitive grant programs, simplifying applications for smaller community organizations, encouraging matching funds, and requiring clear reporting on project outcomes.
Reducing unnecessary administrative barriers matters because, as PERC’s research on water markets illustrates, high transaction costs can prevent otherwise beneficial conservation agreements from occurring. Funding could support streambank stabilization, riparian planting, livestock fencing, alternative watering systems, erosion control, and improved public access where appropriate.
Montana should also continue investing in the infrastructure that allows residents and visitors to enjoy rivers responsibly, including fishing access sites, boat launches, designated recreation areas, and educational programs. Recreation access and conservation should not be treated as competing goals. Well-designed access can concentrate use in appropriate locations, reduce damage to sensitive areas, and help visitors understand their responsibility to protect the resources they enjoy.
Montana’s rivers are a shared economic and environmental asset, but protecting them does not require a single statewide solution. The most effective approach is likely to combine sound science, private-property protections, public investment, and local cooperation. By supporting partnerships that already bring landowners, conservation groups, and government agencies together, Montana can protect water quality while preserving agriculture, recreation, and economic opportunity.
The goal should be straightforward: keep Montana’s rivers healthy, accessible, and productive for the people and communities that depend on them—today and for generations to come.
