Upper Missouri Breaks Riparian Conditions along the River and in the Uplands
It is hard for us to imagine the Upper Missouri River that Lewis and Clark explored in the early 1800's. The river that Lewis and Clark followed was inhabited by Native Americans whose lifestyle differed significantly from those of European descent. What Lewis and Clark discovered but did not comprehend was a river inhabited by people but a land devoid of European agriculture.
The communities the First Americans created were semi-nomadic. They could be easily moved depending on climatic conditions. There were no fences to contain animals; therefore, the bison and other animals that provided sustenance could freely roam. These animals could graze an area but not return to that area for several years. Over eons of time the flora, (grasses and shrubs and trees) had adapted to this type of use.
Just as important, the Missouri was a free flowing river with floods in the Spring and low flows in the summer. Once again, the flora adapted to these conditions. Most importantly, the cottonwood trees had come to depend on the river’s capriciousness to replenish the cottonwood forests. Flooding became critical for the establishment of new seedlings. But the activities on the Upper Missouri River beginning in the early 19th century have changed all of this. Steamboats on the Missouri River demanded fuel, and the second wave of Americans provided this fuel by logging the cottonwood forests for fuel and for building forts and settlements.
Next came the elimination of the bison. The first herds of cattle replacing the bison were somewhat free ranging and in some feeble ways mimicked the grazing patterns of their predecessors. However, they were managed by the new settlers, not to sustain an indigenous and local community, but to sell to eastern markets far removed. In contrast, the First Americans saw the bison only in terms of their communities and survival. They did not manage bison but rather followed them, harvesting what was needed to sustain the community. The settlers methods, however, resulted in the overstocking of range land that had previously experienced and adapted to a pattern of use and rest. After the disastrous winter of 1887, so poignantly portrayed by a Charles Russell postcard sent to an eastern investor titled: Waiting for a Chinook, in which
thousands of cattle died, the West and in particular the Upper Missouri Breaks changed forever.
What emerged was a new era of barb wire fences where cattle were confined and hay put up. The prairie no longer functioned in the age old pattern of grazing and rest dictated by roaming herds of wildlife; it was now managed by a new generation of Americans trying to maximize productivity. This of course was quickly followed by a new government program of homesteading where a person could file on 160 acres of land, (later 320 acres). As one floats the Missouri River in the Missouri Breaks National Monument, several of these homesteads are preserved for the visitor to see. While these are a tribute to the perseverance of the homesteader, they should also be seen as amonument to a failed government policy. That failed policy was the myth that 160 acres could sustain a family in the semi-arid west.
Last and in many ways the most significant was the building of a series of dams upstream from the Missouri Breaks National Monument. These dams regulated flows for the production of electricity and other uses. The consequence of this was two-fold: to eliminate the critical spring-time flooding and scouring necessary for cottonwood replenishment; and to raise the river above the historic low levels that occurred in the late fall. Thus the ice jams that developed over the winter were at a much higher level, and upon breaking up resulted in the destruction of historic cottonwood sites. The Friends recognize these changes. We recognize that the dams will not be breached, thus allowing the river to flow once again in its original capriciousness. We also recognize that the vast herds of bison roaming on an unlimited landscape are also a thing of the past. For us, the question is what can we do to best mimic these earlier conditions that created the wild Missouri?
We would like to see the Bureau of Reclamation release waters from Tiber Dam (on the Marias River) when the Missouri River is already at a flood stage. This supplemental flow into the Missouri at critical times would mimic the traditional flooding that is so critical for the establishment of cottonwoods.
The Friends also recognize that grazing will be a part of the Monument, having been mandated by Congress under the Taylor Grazing Act. We want to work with the BLM and ranchers to have cattle grazing (or for that matter bison grazing) more closely mimic the historic patterns. This includes the numbers of animals and the movement of animals. Critically, the season of grazing use dictates the movement of animals; this affects not only the riparian areas but the uplands as well. We are encouraging the BLM to modify or eliminate hot season grazing in the riparian areas. Hot season grazing is not only detrimental to the riparian vegetation but to the uplands as well. During the hot season, the cattle tend to stay near the river as much as possible. In particular this affects the cottonwood saplings and willows which become easy nourishment for the animals. They also tend to graze as close to the river as possible. The consequence of this pattern of grazing is that the lower grasslands are overgrazed while the upper grasslands may be underutilized. Where hot season grazing is difficult to eliminate completely, we are working with the BLM to create fence exclosures to keep livestock out of critical riparian habitat and to encourage reestablishment of native trees and shrubs.
While the Missouri Breaks appears to be wild, we must recognize that Man has altered the forces and processes that created this unbelievable landscape. It is up to all of us: ranchers who not only graze on public lands but control/own significant portions of the riparian areas, government agencies, conservationists, and all who love this wild landscape to work together to try to recreate in some form these original processes to allow the riparian areas and uplands to once again resemble the place that Lewis and Clark discovered and was the home to our First Americans.