Can We Still Share Our Rivers in Montana?

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with Wendy Weaver Executive Director of Freshwater Partners about a pilot project that her organization is conducting on the Yellowstone River. This was a fascinating discussion because it deals with a problem that has been growing on our rivers since covid. As Rigger put it “I never thought I would see the day that we would see folks not getting along on one of the most fun and beautiful places in Montana, our rivers, what the heck is going on!? And how did we get here?” When you watch or listen to this podcast you learn that Wendy’s group is finding some very interesting things that are likely causing this, for the lack of a better word, unrest. It centers around several things, a slow chipping away of river etiquette, lack of patience and the need to educate new river goers and remind our river vets that we may just need to get back to the basics. The good news is that organizations like Freshwater Partners, Give Back to the Yellowstone and many others are doing something about it. No not by thinking they know more than others or are better than anyone else or anything like that. They are just folks getting us talking about how we can share our rivers, how we can be good to each other and the resource we love to fish, float, play, hunt and just flat enjoy. But it is going to take volunteers, and all of us just getting back to respecting each other, whether it’s picking up after our dogs, listening to our favorite float tunes using our headphones and yes just giving a smile and a wave now and then. Well, that or we are gonna need to hire a bunch of really good MMA referees, ok that last part was not actually a possible solution just Rigger making a poor attempt at humor. No matter if you rarely go to the river or are out there dang near daily, you are going to want to watch or listen to this podcast for sure and maybe even start a program on your favorite stretch of river in Montana. Whatever you decide this podcast is a good place to start so we can all get back sharing our rivers with each other again!

Links:

• Click here to learn more about Freshwater Partners.
• You can learn more about Give Back to The Yellowstone when you click here.
• Click here to donate and help Freshwater Partners keep up the great work they are doing!
• Would you like to learn about starting a program on your favorite stretch of river? Or do you have any questions for Wendy Weaver? Click here to contact her! 
• Click here to contact your buddy Downrigger Dale, he would love to hear from you! Tell him what you thought of this podcast and or give him ideas for new topics.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome, welcome, welcome everyone. So glad to have you back here in the Montana Outdoor Podcast. We're going to get into a topic today that we've talked about before. We've talked about it somewhat here on this podcast. It kind of keeps coming up in some discussions. It came up uh in some discussions with uh some of my FWP guests a while back, but also on our Saturday morning show, which you know we've been doing for the last 28 years, so a lot of you also listen to that. That's the Montana Outdoor Radio Show. It came up several times. And then just recently on our website, MontanaOutdoor.com, it came up again. Our one of our good friends, Brett French, who who writes an article for a weekly article for our website, he did an article about this topic again. Now, what topic am I talking about? Well, if you float rivers around Montana, we're running into some problems. Problems I never thought would happen between folks floating and fishing and that ever. We're gonna get into that next. We're talking about problems on the river. And these aren't the the type of problems, oh, there's a fish kill somewhere or anything like that. We're talking about between anglers and floaters and well, look, let's start here. Have you ever been to one of these access sites lately? And you know, we're all waiting to get out and get our raft in the water and all that, and here's that that group that gets the raft ready, then goes back to the car and gets some more stuff and puts it in, then goes back to the car and gets some more stuff to put in, and we're all waiting and we're getting a little hot. Well, okay, that's what we're talking about, but also this thing about floater and angler conflicts. That I just, you know, if someone would have told me that a few years ago, I'd say, no, that doesn't happen. Well, that's happening too. So we're gonna talk all about it. We're gonna talk about it with a with a guest that I'm so glad we we were able to get her on here, Wendy Weaver, and she is with Freshwater Partners. Now, Wendy, she just popped up on your screen here. Wendy, welcome to the Montana Outdoor Podcast. So glad to have you on. Thanks for having me. Yeah. Now, you're doing something about this, and I I this really excited me because this problem uh I mean, it ain't gonna go away. So we gotta address it. Now, before we get into that, though, I want folks to get to know you a little better. So, so let's get into that. Talk a bit about yourself, where you're from, and and how you got into Freshwater Partners and all that going.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Sure. So I'm Wendy Weaver and I'm the executive director of Montana Freshwater Partners. And we're a small nonprofit uh based here in Livingston. But I grew up in Missoula in the Orchard Homes area, about a block from the Clark Fork River, and our family spent a lot of time recreating on the rivers in the wilderness. And so my dad loved whitewater, he loved floating, and so we spent a lot of our time growing up on the rivers. So that kind of has been a very big part of my life and very ingrained in in what I'm doing today.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

So right, and and for freshwater partners, what talk about that. What is that and and what do you guys do there?

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Yeah, so we were formed 15 years ago to run Montana's statewide wetland and stream mitigation program. And that's a program uh through the Clean Water Act regulated by the Army Corps of Engineers. And so we work all across the state doing restoration projects for impacts to wetlands and streams. But the last 10 or so years, we've really uh gotten more active and involved right here in our backyard on the Yellowstone River Park County. So we we do restoration, we do a lot of um partnership with other organizations to address issues that uh the watershed and the rivers facing. And we try to work with other parties to implement restoration. We advocate for minimal riprap or controlling the rivers when when possible, and really are just a big advocate for the Yellowstone.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

Mm-hmm. And you also work with uh um landowner beaver conflicts, I understand too, which uh that that's an interesting one. I I grew up on a cattle ranch, and uh so when people hear landlord or uh landowner beaver conflicts, that's not a thing. Yeah, it is. We we we had quite an argument with a family of beavers on our ranch, but uh uh and we could have used your guys' help. Talk about that. That that that one interests me.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Yeah, that's a great program. About three years ago, we partnered with National Wildlife Federation and Region 3 Fish Wildlife in Park to host uh regional beaver conflict resolution technicians. So we work with them to when there are conflicts, as there most often are, uh, with beaver on the landscape. We we try to work with landowners to wrap trees, put beaver deceivers in, just mitigate those impacts so that if it makes sense, they can stay on the landscape and do what they're really good at doing, which is uh, you know, reconnecting floodplains, building habitat, reconnecting the hydrology and systems. So they're very beneficial in many ways, and they can also cause a lot of problems in other ways. So the idea is just to work together if it makes sense to allow the beaver to be on the landscape.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

Well, and beavers, you know, like you're saying, can be extremely beneficial to the landscape. In fact, I had read a story about a group of beavers that that they they used, you know, put them into an area and they revitalized a huge amount of wetlands in Montana, up up a kind of, I think it was up around the Highline area. And I mean it was it was a huge area, and I had no idea that they were doing that. And I guess there's a there's an actual program where they they move these beavers around to do that, and they did the work of massive construction companies and all that in in amazing time and in that it it's really something that those little critters can do that.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Yeah, they are ecosystem engineers, and just recently, in fact, a few weeks ago, they just passed a uh relocation program within the state. They're gonna pilot, and they've identified three areas in the state where when there's issues with beavers, they can be trapped and relocated instead of just trapped and exterminated. So that's that's to be determined on how that's gonna work in these three pilot areas, but that's very exciting progress that we're making in the state on that level.

SPEAKER_02 7:37

But what we're gonna talk about a lot today is your program called the River Ambassador Program. This is a really cool program. Um in the podcast description, folks, um, which you know you can find when you like if you're on YouTube, you look at the uh YouTube video, and just below that you'll see this like title of the of the uh uh podcast, and then there's a little uh thing you can click on for more. When you click on that, you you get uh a lot more information, and you get a bunch of links. In those links, I'm gonna have a link to the to the article that Brett French wrote, so you can look at that. Plus, there'll be uh links to uh Wendy's organization, Freshwater Partners, so you'll be able to get a chance to get more info on that, and and we'll get into all that. But anyway, when you go on the montanaoutdoor.com, you'll see uh this this uh article that says program aims to uh educate Upper Yellowstone River boaters. And that was the article that he wrote. So talk about this river ambassador program. It for now it's just on the Yellowstone. Am I correct on that?

SPEAKER_01 8:47

This year is uh what we're piloting the program, but when I so let me step back a little bit. So a number of years ago, uh several local organizations here in Park County were working with the Briellstone watershed group and we around various river issues. And one of the things that we saw from afar was the conflict playing out on the Madison between the angling community and recreation. And they were they were trying to manage and restrict use on the Madison, and it turned out to be very decisive. And I wasn't involved with it, but just reading about it and hearing about it. So we we started asking questions to Fish Wildlife Parks here, what can we do to avoid that type of conflict coming to our community? And one of the things they said is that you can't really manage what you're not measuring. And so in 2020, a number of partners got together and we we launched a river recreation study. So for three years, we went out and we we counted boats, we counted trailers, we counted anglers, we got all of this data. And of course, it started in 2020, which as we all know is a very weird, weird year, and we saw a lot of increased use. But we we got we got this data and we we learned what we knew is that we are seeing a pretty significant increase across all levels on recreation. And so we knew from that study that we are seeing these uh these changes, increases, and so I had always wanted to tend to be a problem solver as an engineer, and I can't control myself sometimes. And so when there's a problem, I really think there is a solution or at least a solution to try. And so I reached out to the Clark Fork Coalition, and they have a very successful program in Missoula that is now five years into it, and so they were wonderful, they were super helpful, willing to share what worked, what didn't work, and how they they built their programs. So they shared a lot of their resources. So I wasn't able, I wasn't having to start from scratch and recreate the wheel. And so they were a great partner. And so I went about thinking about this. Let's pilot this, let's start small, just to see how people might react. You know, will it make a difference? Will it change behavior? Will people be open to it? And so the idea is we're seeing congestion at the boat ramps, we're seeing those conflicts you talked about earlier when people are putting on some people know the boat ramp etiquette, others don't, and that creates a lot of conflict. We're seeing a lot of conflict on the river with big groups of loaders with the angling community. We're seeing we're hearing from landowners uh that they're having a lot of issues with trespassing. People are letting their dogs out to run down the bank. There's a increased use that where people are camping. So all these different things just felt like we could do we could do better at letting people know what is, you know, minimizing that conflict and just being better stewards and being better out on the river when we're there. So that was that was kind of the impetus. And so over the last year, I've just been working with my team and a number of partners in our community. There been a very collaborative effort with Fishwell If and Park and the the local Trout Unlimited, Park County Environmental Council, Explore Livings, just a number of partners that have all helped ground truth this and develop it to where it's at, starting as a pilot this summer.

SPEAKER_02 12:56

Well, I got a really great question from one of our um viewers. Uh this was, you know, is one of those things where we'll be on a topic about rivers, but this always, as I was saying earlier, just keeps coming up. And the the question was, has this been going on always? And we're just now starting to notice it, or is this a fairly new issue of having conflicts on the river and and that sort of thing? Or do you not? Yeah, that's that's a great question.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

I I would say that I personally noticed an uptick in in recreation use probably about 10 years ago. And I think that really just exploded in COVID. I I I have a very vivid memory right when we opened up after the the COVID lockdown summer of 2020, I believe. And it was just noticeably different, noticeably increased what I might call bad behavior or just people being very flippant.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

So and I think so. COVID kind of opened up the the Pandora's box, and I I don't think it's really slowed down since then. I would say that you know, seeing Bozeman area grow so much since 2020 and even before that, I think on the Yellowstone specifically, we're seeing a lot of spillover um across the hill and not from that growth, I think, over in Gallatin County.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

Uh, and you know, and speaking of those emails, a lot of them tend to focus on on you know what is causing this problem. And uh, you know, we all have our theories, but uh the one that seems to bubble up most in in the conversations that I have with people online is well, this is all because of the folks that uh are we're seeing more tourism, so there's more folks visiting, and then it and then there's just a lot of folks that have moved here. Um personally, I I think that's probably a little too simplistic. I think it's it's more than that. What what do you feel there? Is it is it really just overcrowding no matter who's who it is? What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Yeah, I think it's a I think it's a combination. I I do think it really stems for from growth in Montana. And I don't think the Yellowstone is any different than other river systems. I I don't want to speak for them, but you know, we've also what's cool about this is uh McKenna and Lily from the Clark Fork Coalition have formed uh a monthly ambassador call where uh representatives from the Blackfoot Challenge and the Flathead Rivers Alliance, the Missoula Ambassador Program, there's a few trail ambassador programs. So we're getting together every month and we're talking about you know what they're seeing, what they're what they're doing, the successes they're having, or pinch points so that we can all learn from one another and try to scale what we're doing on a local grassroots level to make a difference in our communities.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

Well, and uh I'll give you an example. You know, I I live in in Missoula. Um I was up on the Blackfoot recently, uh, had my little dog with me, and uh we're just having this peaceful walk along the Blackfoot and look at things. And uh all of a sudden I I start hearing the song Panama by the legendary rock band Van Halen. It was just blaring, and and they haven't come around the corner yet, and I I can hear someone yelling, turn that down, while you don't own the river. I mean, it was just yeah, it was like total show prep for this for this podcast. And I'm like, wait a minute, what the hell is going on? So I'm telling you, I never would have thought I'd hear something like that. So it is happening. Um and I I think, do you think some of this is just that these are maybe some newer floaters that kind of use some of their normal habits of, you know, if they were out kind of having fun in a park or whatever, they might play some loud music. And well, now we're we're new to Montana and this is fun. We're out on the the tubes, let's take some tunes with us. And boy, you you just it that's not everybody's favorite song. A lot of people don't want it, a lot of people don't want to hear the music. So I yeah, right. I think it is an education thing of wait a minute, think about this for a second. Uh and and people aren't stupid. Sometimes if you just point it out, they go, Oh crap, yeah, sorry. Probably shouldn't do that.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Yeah, I think that's a great example of something I've experienced. I've experienced that on the trails. I don't I think people just don't know it's not okay to have your music blaring if you want to listen to it, put your headphones on. So there's this difference and maybe ethos around recreating that I, yeah, I would say there's a lot of people that have moved here that may not understand that or know what the, you know, how to read the room, maybe. And so I think that's one of the things that we're trying to do is in a very positive, uh non-authoritarian, not like we know better, we're smarter than you, but hey, you know, there's different ways to do that. And one of the things we made that we're gonna be handing out when we're tabling at the fishing access sites this summer is these little notebooks. And the notebooks have different messaging in them. So this one has, you know, weights on what what good river etiquette is and what fishing etiquette is and bear awareness. And if you're you know, you're doing overnight or how to leave minimal impact. I think one of the things we saw, we host the or we uh put on the annual river cleanup. And last year when we did our river cleanup, we weren't pulling off or picking up cans and trash and bottles. The main thing that we were collecting was dog poop. And that wasn't just dog poop at the fishing access points, that was along the banks of the river, out on the islands, and so one of the the points we're hoping to try to get people to start thinking about is waste, human and dog waste. So we're gonna have a little waste demonstration station when we're tabling just so that people can visually see different ways that if they choose to do that, they can take their waste off, whether it's wag bags or groovers, or we're making little we're making PVC doggy groovers, and we're gonna hand those out for people if they're interested in picking up after their dogs when they're on the river, just because if that continues to scale and it will, then then we're getting into pretty significant water quality issues.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Absolutely. Hey Rigger, I just wanted to jump in here for a second, if you don't mind. Sure, Roger, what's up? I just wanted to acknowledge a few folks that I know are special to you and all of our regular viewers and listeners. That's our active military watching and listening from bases, ships, and who knows where, all around the world. Thank you all for your service. Be safe out there and know that we are all thinking of you, praying for you, and we hope this podcast brings a little home to you wherever you are. Also, a big thank you to our veterans listening and watching here in Montana or wherever you may be living now, including one of Rigard's beautiful daughters. Thank you all for your service. We will never forget what you have done for America. Also, I wanted to tell everyone out there listening and watching that the Montana Outdoor Podcast is brought to you by Rocky Mountain Truck and Trailer, home of Fox Snow Clouds and Accessories. And Diamond C trailers and accessories. Go to rmtte.com and see everything they have waiting for you online. Or just come by 5680 Expressway in Missoula and buy Superior Hardwoods of Montana, delivering the highest quality lumber, paneling, flooring, and reclaimed wood products anywhere in North America. Let them guide you through the woods at their showroom in Missoula on Highway 93 South or at superior hardwoods.com.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

Over the years, you've heard me talk a lot about Superior Hardwoods of Montana. Yeah, I've talked a great deal about their incredible reclaimed wood from old barns. Green elevators, old homesteads, even old log flume zigzagging down a mountainside in Montana. If there's an amazing piece of wood that can be reclaimed and turned into an unbelievable one of a kind wood floor, paneling, or well just about anything, Superior Hardwoods of Montana has found it, created it, and showed all of us right there online at superior dash hardwoods dot com. They truly are artists that just happen to use wood as their canvas. And yes, I've also talked about their amazing ability to find some of the most unbelievable exotic woods from all over the world. I was asked the other day if Superior Hardwoods of Montana ever just sold normal wood floors or paneling, or do they only sell wood products that are incredible and unusual? I had to stop and think about that question for a minute. No, not because I could not think of a case where Superior Hardwoods of Montana sold just some usual nice looking flooring or paneling. They do that a lot. I had to think about it because the folks at Superior Hardwoods of Montana make really any piece of wood incredible and unusual. Simply because you will not find any, let me say it again, you will not find any place on earth that cares more about what they sell than Superior Hardwoods of Montana. I guess that's why they've been in business since 1977. It's a a passion of everyone at Superior Hardwoods of Montana. I know that because I've known these folks for, well, most of the 65 years that I've been around. So believe me when I say at Superior Hardwoods of Montana, they absolutely cannot wait to guide you through the woods. Go see them next time you're in Missoula or why not go see them right now at superior-hardwoods.com. Superior Hardwoods of Montana. Go see them. So do you see this spreading from your pilot program then to rivers all across Montana?

SPEAKER_01 24:19

That's a great question. I think, you know, I think if we are successful, and I I do think we will be, we've only been out tabling a few times. We're gonna be out more this week and for the rest of the summer, but the the response has been really positive and receptive so far. And so I think it really comes down to, you know, organizations in those communities seeing a need and and building it from the ground up in those communities. And that's happening in Missoula, it's happening up in the Flathead, it's happening on the Blackfoot, you know, Vando area. It's it's it's happening. And so I think hopefully that continues to grow and and that the idea of uh having ambassadors in other areas will just continue to grow with more.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

I think it's a great idea. Uh one of the other solutions that that got offered from one of our um viewers was well, you know, we in bird hunting we saw this again, COVID kind of was when it started. A lot of folks that really started coming to Montana, and and even folks that maybe weren't bird hunters but got into it during that time. And so it we saw some overcrowding in very popular bird hunting areas, and finally a rule had been made that okay, we're going to let just Montana residents for the first few days and then non-residents just to give the people that live here a little a little better time. So one of the uh one of our viewers came up with this idea. Well, maybe we should do that with our rivers to solve this problem, where uh it's only residents uh during certain days of the week and non-residents. Personally, that's one for for uh outfitters for people that do fishing, guiding, that that could be devastating to their business. But yeah, anyway, um it do you feel that this is something that that needs to be addressed with a law to take it to the legislature and all that, or do you think doing this grassroots deal we can solve this ourselves? That's a great question.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Uh I would say that's a really slippery slope when we're we get back into regulating who can and can't use the river when and where. And we saw that play out on the Madison. And that that conflict was really uh geared towards fishing guides and outfitters, and that did not go well, especially when we know that the majority of the use is not coming from the the angling and the guiding community. We know that, so it does not make sense to regulate the the fishing and uh fishing guides and outfitters. That that doesn't make sense. I I would I would I would not at this point advocate for something nor like that, nor would we want to start to talk about management restrictions. I I just I think that would create so much conflict. You know, people have very strong opinions on either sides of anything anyone does nowadays. And so I I don't know if that's where we should be going right now. I really think that if we are able to scale and really bring the resources to what we have and working with um Fish Wildlife and Parks and where they're at right now, I think that's where we're gonna see success. And one of the things that we're also going to be advocating this summer is a conservation license. And most people don't know that they have to have a conservation license to use the rivers. And if you're fishing, you have that automatically included on your fishing license. But just your general uh floaters, they don't know that. So that's one thing we're hoping to bring more awareness to is hey, do you have your conservation license? If not, this is where you go to get that in, and then maybe ideally someday that fund those resources build in a way that there can be improvements to the fishing access sign sites, better signage, more resources to uh enforce things like uh fishing licenses and conservation licenses. I think we do have a river ranger, Angie, uh in region three that's gonna be helping us. And they just don't have the ability to do a lot of the enforcement. So I think this education, or maybe a better way of saying it, is sharing information so people, if they don't know, become aware, and then you know, they can choose to either uh do things differently or not, you know, that's everybody's choice. You know, the noise thing is I think a really great example. One of the things we have in here is, you know, if if keep your noise, keep your, you know, if you want to play music, keep it down so that you can hear it, not everybody else can hear it. And so whether or not someone's gonna learn that and say, oh, yeah, that's just the respectful thing. I mean, uh, this is a lot of basic respectful. Yeah. It's just respect one another, you know, do unto others as you would want done onto you. But if you don't know what that is, then that's I think where we come in. And hopefully they we can share information on how to be just a better steward of the river, uh, not only from interacting with the public and other people, but also on the resource, you know, tread lightly and trying not to uh you know damage riparian vegetation or leave lots of firings or you know, a lot of the the impacts that we're seeing out there.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

Well, um, you know, on on the the the rulemaking enforcement side, that one comment that that I had from when I got into this discussion with one of our viewers was, you know, if we get into the enforcement side, what always tends to happen, not always, but often tends to happen is then it becomes a uh us against the enforcers thing. So you're you're just you're just shifting the conflict, you're not solving it. Um but along that line though, I was in a discussion with um uh I had um uh the the director of Fish Wildlife and Parks on, and um we were talking about the corner crossing issue. And uh Christy, right? Yeah, uh we had that discussion and they're you know in a lawsuit now. Um, and so then I had the other side on the next podcast, and we talked about it. What boiled out of that was one idea that I think could work, which is they said, you know, before when you get a buy a hunting tag or you you you buy your hunting license of any kind, there is a requirement that you have to just take this little uh private land use test. It's just a little deal. It doesn't necessarily mean you're not gonna get the license if you fail it, but you but you do have to at least take it. Uh and show that you took it. Uh and I thought, now that's a good idea of you know how to ask for permission, how to how to uh leave things when the when the ground is wet, don't drive over it. It's too tough for farmers to try to fix that, on and on and on. Do you think maybe that could be something that when you buy your conservation license, you just got to do a little river etiquette test, you know, few questions, not too many. I mean, that might kind of get the idea going of you know, picking up after you all that. Do you think that's something that could be done?

SPEAKER_01 32:38

I think that's a great idea. Yeah, I mean, there's a there's a lot to cover there, but yeah, I think that would be a great idea, just having people be aware of the different things. You know, there's a thing called hoot owl and what that means.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Exactly. Yeah, okay. So so it takes an extra 15 to 30 minutes, you know, when you when you do it, all you got to do is just take the test and then that shows it certified. Okay, now you're you're licensed, you can download it now, you know, or or whatever. To me, something like that would be really good. And and then it kind of plants that seed, and then when they run into you guys at the table and run into that, they go, Oh, yeah, that was in that test. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we shouldn't do that. Um to me, I I think some of these ideas are are are just great, but at least an organization like yours is saying, okay, rather than let's just join the complaining crowd, let's let's figure this out. Uh or try to. Yeah, or try to, right. Um, when you guys were doing this counting of you know traffic and all that, and you know, trying to figure out, okay, if we're going to try to manage the problem, we've got to see how big it is, and that did you did you get data from other rivers? And I guess my question is, have you heard which river rivers have the most problems like this and which don't? Have you got that far yet?

SPEAKER_01 34:03

You know, that's a great question. And I don't know the answer to that. I do know that the Montana State University uh ecology department has also been doing uh river uh studies and collecting data. I think they were doing it last year. I believe they're doing it this year, and I've seen the cards out on trucks and vehicles at the fishing access sites. They are collecting data. I don't know all the rivers they're collecting that on, and I don't know when those results will be available to understand what they are seeing.

SPEAKER_02 34:42

But they are collecting that sometimes, you know, people that are regular floaters on a on a waterway, uh, you know, you get them to take a little ownership to say, you know, uh, hey, we're gonna be doing this study and we're gonna find out which is which is the most polite river in Montana. And then people go, hey, we're gonna make sure our river is that, you know, we we don't want that stuff. I don't know. Uh to me, it just our rivers are so special and so wonderful. And I I just hate to see where this is going. And there there's gotta be a way to to handle it. Um, so in looking at all this stuff, where where are the next steps here? How can we help? What what can we do to help you guys? Because you you got a big task ahead of you, uh just just for one river, let alone all of them.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

And we're not claiming to want to do the other one, but I know the uh the ambassadors on the other rivers, I think, are also you know trying to figure this out. And so I think there is a way to volunteer this year. Our partners are volunteering at the table ink, but we're hoping in future years to open that up to the general public for volunteers with training so that they uh we can engage more people on it. So I guess just being supportive of what of those programs, if they are in your community and going to say hi and and if there's a way to sign up as a volunteer through their websites, I would encourage that and ask them on how they can support. Uh yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 36:32

So well, and then I think this is a good time to to call out to those of you if if one of you are listening or watching this podcast and you have something like that going on one of your rivers, let us know so we can get the word out for you. Because uh that you know that would be good to to you know kind of get this going. I I foresee this getting solved. Um now before we we go on, I I just got a couple more questions for you, and I appreciate your your time, Wendy. So uh thank you so much for that. Um and also uh for those of you that just like this program and enjoy doing it, uh if you would take a little time to like and share and um and do all that uh on YouTube, that that helps us a lot too. There would not be a podcast if it weren't for the support of great Montana-owned companies like Rocky Mountain Truck and Trailer. So if you enjoy any of these podcasts and you happen to need a new trailer for work or hauling things on your next adventure, why not go see the folks that support what you like to do? For example, you can find right now at Rocky Mountain Truck and Trailer something that all folks who love Montana's outdoors can always appreciate, and that is top tier toughness. Yes, what we need here in Montana's Great Outdoors. Whether we're on the job site or the open road, headed for our favorite fishing spot. Here's what I want you to do right now. Head to Rocky Mountain Truck and Trailer either the next time you're in Missoula or right now at rmte.com. Rocky Mountain Truck and Trailer is your dealer for baseline equipment dump trailers. You're gonna love these. What's great about anything from Baseline is everything they make is built to work as hard as you do. Baseline is a heavy-duty, high performance trailer that hauls, dumps, and delivers no matter the load. Backed by real expertise and hometown service, you can trust. And the only place you'll find them is at Rocky Mountain Truck and Trailer, there at 5680 Expressway in Missoula, or on the web at rmtte.com. As my friends at Rocky Mountain Truck and Trailer put it, baseline is basics done best. And don't forget, gang, you can also find the Diamond C Single Axle PSA Trailer. PSA stands for premium single axle trailer, by the way. And I have to tell you, premium is an understatement. The Diamond C single Axle PSA has a sleek design, rock solid frame, and unbeatable performance. The PSA is your go-to for daily hauling, whether it's at the job site or at the campsite. And you guessed it, you will only find them at Rocky Mountain Truck and Trailer, your local Diamond C single-axle PSA trailer dealer, right there at 5680 Expressway in Missoula. Or go see them at rmtte.com. Rocky Mountain Truck and Trailer, your workhard and playhard headquarters at rmtte.com. So uh back to finding ways to to carry this great idea on. Uh, can folks contact you if they said, hey, I I think I want to try to get something like this going on, say, the uh the Clark Fork or whatever. Can they contact you to just kind of get some ideas from you?

SPEAKER_01 40:13

Absolutely. I would be more than happy talk to talk to anyone about what we're trying to do and put them in in touch with others also doing it. I think you know, we're trying to get the messaging out on our socials. So Montana Freshwater Partners and our give back to the Yellowstone pages. They can sign up for our volunteer list or follow us on uh sign up for our newsletters on our website. And so yeah, that would the more the more people caring and and sharing the information, I think that's when it really starts to change and people start to, you know, we see better behavior, I guess, or less conflict, such as I think what we all would want to do.

SPEAKER_02 41:05

And like you were saying, uh uh, you know, maybe not necessarily say, let me educate you, but hey, here's something I wanted to share with you. You know, just sometimes it's just the way you approach people. And I just really like the way you guys are are going at this. Is there other ways that we can help uh your organization? I mean, uh, do you take donations? Are there things that we can do? Because you guys are doing a lot of stuff here.

SPEAKER_01 41:32

Well, thanks for asking. We always accept donations. We're still trying to fundraise for this program because it's a it's a pilot this year. And so we want to continue to to build it and grow it. So we are always grateful for any donations, those can be made on our website and all any donation that comes in will go back into our Give Back to the Yellowstone efforts.

SPEAKER_02 41:57

So and in the podcast description, folks, again, just go there. Uh the link will be right there. Uh, in fact, I'll get a direct link for being able to just directly donate and do that. You know, help them out. If you if you don't have the time to maybe volunteer and do these things, uh, you know, money does help. So if you could do that, that would be awesome.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

Well, and anyone can reach out to me. I can get them a cool notebook. We made uh waterproof river maps with the mileages on there. We have river cleanup bags, we have doggy bandanas. So I'm happy to share any of these resources, materials, dot get you a doggy groover if you're interested. They're well branded. So any anything that we can do to get this out in the world and people talking about it with their friends and their friends' friends, then I I think we'll see a change.

SPEAKER_02 42:52

Well, yeah, I I agree with you. I think uh I think it it just takes that putting the notion in their head. Is there anything else you'd like to share with us, Wendy, before I let you go?

SPEAKER_01 43:02

No, Dale, I really appreciate your invite to have me here and our conversation. So thank you.

SPEAKER_02 43:10

Well, anytime I see people doing things like what you're doing, to say, you know, rather than being on the sidelines going, I wish someone would fix that, when they jump in and say, All right, let me help. How can I do this? Uh, that is somebody we need to get on this podcast and let people know because that's how things get fixed. It just is. And it's kind of our Montana way, isn't it? I mean, it is. We we start talking, we get together, and next thing you know, that problem's out of the way. Let's go to the next one. So so anyway, um, in fact, one one thing I I popped into my head. I I'm thinking, you know, I wonder if I can find a corporate sponsor that maybe we put out some of these, you know, inexpensive little headphones that you know, if you if you forgot your headphones here, use these and put them in when you when you take your your raft out or something. Uh I don't know. I I love it. I mean, I love music, don't get me wrong, I love it. I just don't always like your music. I totally agree. When I'm trying to, you know, just get some nice, you know, decompress and a little stress.

SPEAKER_01 44:21

Enjoy the enjoy the enjoy the nature.

SPEAKER_02 44:24

Right. Yeah, instead of hearing pan a month. I could not believe that. All right, Wendy. Thank you so much. And folks, check out the uh the links in the um pod that podcast description and get in there if you are in the Yellowstone area. Why not uh jump in and uh volunteer with Wendy or start your own and let's keep this going. Thank you, Wendy, for coming on the program. I really do appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 44:53

Thank you so much, Dale. It's been a pleasure.

SPEAKER_02 44:57

There we have it, Wendy Weaver. She is uh just having a great idea that I I just love these kind of things, folks. So I hope you will jump in there and do something like that or donate and be part of this until we talk again, folks. Be careful out there and be good to each other. And we'll see you next time here on the Montana Outdoor Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 45:19

Thanks for watching the Montana Outdoor Podcast. You know there's no way we could do this podcast without the incredible support of sponsors like Superior Hardwoods of Montana, home of the largest selection of in-stock high-end wood products and flooring in the western United States. Let them guide you through the woods at superior-hardwoods.com. And of course, Rocky Mountain Truck and Trailer in Missoula, home of both snow clouds and accessories, and Diamond C trailers and accessories. Go see them on the web at rmtt.com. We'd love to hear what you thought of this week's podcast. When you get a minute or two, shoot us an email and tell us your thoughts. Same goes if you have any questions for rigor or this week's guest. Just send your questions or comments to downrigger at montanaoutdoor.com. Hey, don't forget we should be dropping a new podcast this next Saturday. Until then, gang, we hope to see you soon out in Montana's great outdoors.