Infrastructure Bill Will Help State’s Hunters, Anglers

Last week, the American people and Montana anglers and hunters got a big and long-awaited win with the signing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This truly bipartisan infrastructure legislation makes major investments in helping the nation and our state create high paying jobs, invest in our rural communities, and address the impacts of drought on our cold-water fisheries.

Thanks to the critical leadership of Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont, Congress passed the single largest investment in our nation’s physical infrastructure and waterways in more than a generation. In a big state like Montana, it is easy to see just how desperate the need is for strong investments in our infrastructure. Montana anglers and hunters thank Senator Tester for his foresight and initiative in getting this legislation across the finish line.

Montana Trout Unlimited lauds provisions of this legislation that will deliver major benefits for coldwater fish and their habitats, including, removal and rehabilitation of obsolete dams, forest and watershed restoration, replacement of old culverts and fish passage barriers, abandoned mine restoration, and increased efficiency of water management and transport systems. It reflects the understanding that our rivers and streams are as much a fundamental part of the nation’s infrastructure as bridges and dams.

The infrastructure bill also comes with commonsense solutions for climate and drought impacts to our fish and wildlife. For instance, it funds the Legacy Roads and Trails program. This program provides millions in dedicated funding for repairing, upgrading, and sometimes removing 375,000 miles of roads, 12,000 bridges, and 143,000 miles of trails managed by the U.S. Forest Service, in the service of reducing sediment or fish barriers in our public waters. This is a high priority for us due to the widespread adverse impacts of poorly maintained roads and trails on wild and native trout streams.

The agreement recognizes the critical role of our water infrastructure and watershed health in improving water security as climate change makes conditions hotter and drier. It invests $400 million in the WaterSMART program, $100 million of which is dedicated for watershed restoration projects, and dedicates another $250 million for aquatic ecosystem restoration and protection projects. Another $100 million supports local action through funding watershed groups’ planning and project development, to help ensure the infrastructure bill’s funding makes possible the best, multi-benefit projects for improving watershed health, fish and wildlife habitat, and clean drinking water for Montanans for generations to come. The deal also makes good on long-held, often-broken promises to our first nations by funding elements of the ratified Indian water rights settlements, including with the Crow, Blackfeet, and Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes. Further, it includes $100 million for the entire Milk River water delivery system, including replacement of the failing diversion structure that has trapped and entrained threatened bull trout for decades. Both are a win for cold-water fish habitats, and are a win for the tribal nations, communities, and irrigators who rely on that water.

The far-reaching provisions of the infrastructure bill help protect Montana’s water resources in the face of hotter summers and drier winters. And these investments will help secure the hunting and fishing heritage of many working- class Montana families. Thanks to the leadership from pragmatic House and Senate Democrats like Senator Tester, and willing Republican leaders, we have a governing win for the American people that will help keep Montana rivers, lakes and streams cold, clean and fishable for generations to come.