Conditions described here were accurate only as of the date shown and may have changed. This is not a substitute for current official information from the agency with jurisdiction. See the full notice. Full notice.
Montana Lets the Rivers Back Open
Cooler weather at the end of August has lifted most hoot-owl restrictions, and the Madison has gone from closed to merely limited.
A cool end to August across western Montana dropped water temperatures below the threshold, and Fish, Wildlife and Parks has lifted or eased restrictions on a long list of rivers with more cool weather and precipitation forecast.
Silver Bow Creek is open in its entirety. So is the Bitterroot from Veterans Bridge at Hamilton down to the Clark Fork confluence, though the upper river restriction stands. The Clark Fork is open from its origin to the mouth of the Blackfoot, and restrictions came off the lower Beaverhead, the East Gallatin, the lower Gallatin, the Ruby and the Smith.
The Madison has gone from a full closure to hoot-owl between the park boundary and Hebgen Reservoir. Three short sections near Baker's Hole campground stay closed to line up with the Park Service's own restriction. The Jefferson opened entirely earlier in the week.
Read that list as a snapshot rather than a green light. These come off river by river and section by section, and the upper Bitterroot restriction still standing inside an otherwise-open river is the shape of the thing.
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