Clark Fork Coalition
Overview
Founded in 1985, the Clark Fork Coalition is dedicated to protecting and restoring the Clark Fork River basin, a 22,000-square-mile area draining western Montana and northern Idaho. We have a 25-year-long record of substantial achievements improving the health of the watershed.
Side by side with citizens, scientists, landowners, business leaders, and public officials, we have spearheaded initiatives that have delivered important gains, including:
• The decision to remove Milltown Dam and the contaminated mining wastes piled behind it, freeing up the confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers.
• A plan to invest more than $250 million cleaning up mining pollution and restoring the top 120 miles of the Upper Clark Fork River corridor.
• The decision to remove Mike Horse Dam, a slumping mess of toxic mine tailings stacked up in the headwaters of the Blackfoot River.
• A ban on the sale of pollution-causing phosphate detergent.
• Widespread and project-blocking opposition to the Rock Creek Mine proposal, which would mine underneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness.
• A farmer’s market that brings upper Clark Fork valley food to nearby consumers, thereby helping preserve the watershed’s working ranchlands and rural rhythms.
• Tools for bringing about river-smart growth that values and protects the basin’s irreplaceable rivers, lakes, and streams.
Our work is science-based and results-oriented, with an emphasis on public education through energetic advocacy. This approach puts people in touch with Clark Fork River and the cause for a healthy watershed, and it has made the Coalition a trusted and respected voice for our rivers and communities.