Yesterday, the Trump administration announced a dangerous new rule to narrowly redefine “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The federal Clean Water Act is a crucial piece of legislation that protects clean drinking water for…
The Madison River is not only a key headwater to the Missouri, it is also one of Montana’s most heavily used rivers. In the face of mounting fishing pressure Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks are undertaking a new River Recreation…
It’s tough staying on top of what’s happening in Washington D.C., let alone know what proposed Congressional bills mean for waterways and Montana. For this reason we’ve compiled a Fall 2017 Legislative Update on all things water. Take a look…
The Clean Water Act turned 45 today. We’re celebrating. But we’re also mobilizing. Because, despite the progress we have made, our clean water is under attack. The Clean Water Act is visionary. The people who wrote it imagined a time…
The Freedom of Information Act (5 USC § 552) (FOIA) is one of the most important legal tools citizens and reporters have for furthering government transparency and accountability in the United States. FOIA is an acronym for the Freedom of…
Continuing its march toward elimination of key Clean Water Act protections, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued a formal notice of withdrawal for the Obama administration’s rule defining which waters can be protected against pollution and destruction under…
This year, President Trump issued Executive Order 13777 (‘Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda) demanding that for every new regulation proposed, the government must eliminate two existing rules. On top of trying to remove the regulatory safeguards that industry finds too costly, the…
Bad Bill Tracking A little over a week past, President Trump signed an executive order setting up “regulatory reform officers” and “task forces” within the agencies to help carry out the destruction of regulations. Stopping regulatory “overreach” is one thing, but destroying agencies…
This October 2016 Upper Missouri Waterkeeper had the opportunity to participate in one of the more important events since the founding of our organization in 2013: the public hearing on the draft Phase II Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4)…
A microscopic parasite is destroying the fish population of the Yellowstone River, causing Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) to take the extraordinary step of closing a 183-mile stretch of the Yellowstone and its tributaries to all water-based recreation (fishing,…
