Missoula’s backyard wilderness is only more
beautiful with age
MISSOULA — The Rattlesnake National Recreation Area
and Wilderness is celebrating its 25th anniversary this
year.
The 28,000-acre recreation area and its adjoining
33,000-acre wilderness 4 miles north of Missoula got off to a rocky
start, but passed muster with Congress and was signed into law by
President Jimmy Carter on Oct. 19, 1980.
Pat Williams, a
nine-term congressman for Montana, introduced the bill creating the
area as a young freshman lawmaker from Butte. He had only been in
office a few months when the University of Montana’s dean of
forestry, Arnold Bolle, invited him over for breakfast to talk about
the idea.
‘‘His theme, interesting enough for a forester, was
unusual,’’ Williams said. ‘‘He wanted preservation, but what was
really important to him was access for people in one of Montana’s
largest communities to a wild place.’’
Back then, the
Northern Rockies were just starting a significant period of economic
transition. Montanans making their living in timber, mining and
other extractive industries were starting to worry about their jobs
and the future, and the debate over new wilderness in Montana was
reaching a crescendo.
‘‘The word ‘wilderness’ became the linchpin in that
economic struggle for many Montanans,’’ Williams
said.
Ownership of the wilderness and recreation area near
Missoula at the time was mixed. The Montana Power Co. controlled
nearly half of the property, but Rattlesnake Creek also was
Missoula’s municipal water supply and many recognized the need to
protect it from any detrimental development.
In March 1980,
Williams and Arizona Rep. Morris Udall were met by an ugly scene in
Dillon for Montana’s first hearing on a controversial study looking
at which national forest lands should be considered for wilderness
designation. The sheriff accompanied them to the hearing, where
people shouted at them, waved placards and even spit on them,
Williams said.
‘‘At that time, there was a huge
misunderstanding by some about what wilderness even was,’’ he said.
‘‘One man asked us how much it was going to cost for the bricks and
barbed wire. He truly thought we were going to build a fence around
the area so people couldn’t use it.’’
The reception in
Missoula, Williams said, couldn’t have been more
different.
‘‘It was unique,’’ he said. ‘‘People (in Missoula)
did understand it and they knew why they wanted the wilderness. I
think the Friends of the Rattlesnake were responsible for
that.’’
These days, ‘‘I think it’s safe to say Missoula has
one of the best backyards in the nation,’’ Williams said.
The
Rattlesnake National Recreation Area and Wilderness offers residents
a variety of hiking, backpacking, horseback riding and other
opportunities just outside Missoula city limits. Elk, deer, beaver,
mountain goats, black bears and more than 40 bird species can be
found there, and the area is popular among cross-country skiers and
snowshoers in the winter.
‘‘The knowledge of people that it’s
there and will always be protected from development expands
everyone’s horizons,’’ Williams said. ‘‘The area is a very
significant part of many people’s lives, and it’s important for them
to know that it will be there for all time.’’
