Anglers in Montana recently raised alarms after spotting a massive all-terrain vehicle driving through some of the best fishing spots on the Blackfoot River—one of the crown jewels of freestone trout streams in the West. The vehicle, which appeared to stir up sediment and increase water turbidity, was contracted by a local county but did not have the correct environmental permitting and the operation was quickly shut down by the state.
The issue arose on Monday, August 4, when concerned anglers posted videos of the vehicle barreling through the river on social media and called local officials. Fishing guide Kyle Rausch, posted a video on Instagram of the vehicle driving through River Junction, where the North Fork of the Blackfoot meets the main stem of the river.
Rausch’s video shows a SHERP ATV—a vehicle made in Ukraine and Turkey that touts its “amphibious” capabilities—driving next to the bank of the river, while two men walk along the shore spraying weeds. “This was tearing up the river so bad we had to wait every time it would cross the river upstream of us due to the mud and moss it was churning up,” wrote Rausch.
He wasn’t the only angler concerned by the environmental impact of the vehicle. “I got people storming in here and going, 'What the hell?'” Kathy Shoendoerfer, co-owner of the Blackfoot Angler fly shop told The Missoulian. “There's just no way to think that this could do any good to the environment at all."
The SHERP vehicle reportedly drove down to Scotty Brown Bridge, over eight river miles from River Junction. A spokesperson for Montana Fish, Parks, and Wildlife (FWP) told Field & Stream that the vehicle lacked the proper permitting. “The video shows a weed control coordinator contracted by Powell County,” the agency said in a statement. “Once our fisheries staff was made aware of the video, and after further investigation, they reached out to Powell County to immediately stop the use of a vehicle driving in the river. Staff quickly determined the actions exhibited in the video required a special stream permit, specifically a stream protection act permit 124, which the county did not have.”
Permit 124 requires folks to receive special permission for projects that could impact the “beds or banks of any stream in Montana.” FWP officials say that the extensive driving in the Blackfoot could have a “negative impact on habitat and the fishery.” To make matters worse, the incident comes after FWP instituted “Hoot Owl” restrictions on the river, a regulatory action closing angling in the afternoons to reduce stress on trout during low flows and high water temps. FWP did not say whether it plans to file any legal charges over the event.
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“Simply put, operating a motor vehicle impacting Montana's stream bed should not happen without a permit,” the agency said. “We will work with Powell County to ensure weed control is done properly in the future to stress the importance of protecting Montana’s natural resources … We want to thank the public for drawing our attention to this important matter.”
