GOVERNOR APPROVES UPPER CLARK FORK RESTORATION PROJECTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 2001
Contact: Carol Fox, Natural Resource Damage Program, 406-444-0209

Governor Martz on December 17 approved six restoration projects in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin that had been recommended for funding by the Trustee Restoration Council.

"It is rewarding to see the variety of benefits that will be derived from this year's restoration projects, from enhancing fish and wildlife habitat in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin, to improving public drinking water supplies, to creating substantial public recreational opportunities near Butte and Anaconda," Martz noted.

"We are pleased to give these projects final approval. Combined with last year's projects that are already underway, they will help make the Basin's natural resources healthy and provide opportunities for the public to enjoy those resources," Martz added.

The six projects approved by the Governor total $5.3 million:

• Greenway Service District, "Silver Bow Creek Greenway," $1,206,755
• Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, "Watershed Land Acquisition," $2,067,673
• Butte-Silver Bow Local Government, "Drinking Water Infrastructure Replacement Phase I," $1,165,795
• Montana Council of Trout Unlimited, "Antelope and Wood Creek Riparian Management Project," $10,000
• County Water and Sewer District of Rocker, "Rocker Water Reclamation and Habitat Enhancement Project," $719,566
• Watershed Restoration Coalition of the Upper Clark Fork, " East Deer Lodge Valley Watershed Project," $135,941

Funding comes from the partial settlement of a lawsuit brought by the state in 1983 to recover damages to natural resources caused by decades of mining and smelting in the Butte-Anaconda area. The state sued the Atlantic Richfield Co. in 1983 and settled several portions of the lawsuit in 1998, receiving $215 million. About $130 million of that is earmarked to restore the injured natural resources in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin between Butte and Milltown Dam near Missoula.

The state has developed guidelines for spending the funds, outlining a process in which governmental and private entities and individuals could submit grant proposals for restoration projects. The Natural Resource Damage Program, which is part of the Montana Department of Justice, administers the grant process. This is the second year for the grant program.

In March, the program received eight grant applications totaling approximately $6.1 million. The program staff and the Upper Clark Fork River Basin Remediation and Restoration Education Advisory Council reviewed the proposals and made recommendations to the Governor's Trustee Restoration Council. That council - made up of the governor's chief of staff, the attorney general, the directors of the state's three natural resource agencies and the chairman of the advisory council -- recommended six projects for funding in a draft work plan that was submitted for public comment. Two of the six projects were recommended at lower funding levels than requested. After considering the public comment, the Council recommended that the Governor fund all six projects for a total of $5,305,730.

Successful grant recipients will enter into contracts with the state Natural Resource Damage Program to implement the projects. Applications for next year's grant cycle will be available in early January and due in early March.

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