Smith River Committee to Meet September 1 in Helena

The Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) for the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Park’s Smith River Management Plan update will hold a meeting at Montana WILD in Helena, on Sept. 1, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

FWP is currently in the early stages of updating the 2009 Smith River Management Plan and is examining several management issues including the permit lottery system, site impacts, overnight camping at Camp Baker, and implementing a human waste pack-out system.

The purpose of this meeting is to gather feedback from the 11 members of the PAC regarding the first draft of the Environmental Assessment (EA) document the department is preparing, which examines alternatives for addressing the management issues.

The draft EA will be presented to the Parks and Recreation Board in October. The board will decide what will be included in the official draft EA that goes out for full public comment, with a final decision tentatively scheduled for the December 2021 board meeting.

A public comment opportunity for the Sept. 1 meeting is tentatively scheduled from 12:30 to 1 p.m., during which people can share their thoughts with the PAC. A formal, more lengthy public comment period will take place after the October board meeting.

More information on the management plan update can be found at https://fwp.mt.gov/stateparks/smith-river/management.