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When Greg Schatz first began horse packing into the remote wilderness along the South Fork of the Flathead River, it was still the type of wild country where you would go days without seeing another soul. But 35 years and more than 60 trips later, that has changed. 

That change was exemplified by a trip last summer over the Fourth of July weekend when he encountered approximately 70 people camping along the banks and a river that looked more like a “bumper-car derby” than a protected wild and scenic waterway.

“It’s a disaster,” he said. “The resource just cannot handle that type of use.”

Experiences like that are why Schatz is enthusiastically participating in an ongoing public comment period that will shape the river management plan for all three forks of the Flathead River. The U.S. Forest Service last released a comprehensive management plan for the three forks of the designated Flathead River in 1980. 

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 established a nationwide system of “outstanding” free-flowing rivers nationwide. Since then, 228 rivers in 41 states and Puerto Rico have been added to the list. The North, Middle and South Forks of the Flathead River were added in 1976 under the management of the U.S. Forest Service. The 1980 river plan has served as a guide for management decisions for 45 years, along with a Recreation Management Direction created in 1986. 

The effort to revise the comprehensive river management plan dates back to 2017, but it was delayed due to the pandemic, funding shortfalls and a staff shortage. As a result, the Forest Service did not meet a target of late 2024 to get a draft released to the public. Instead, on Jan. 6, it released a proposed action document that gave an overview of the river system and the desired conditions for which it would be managed. That document is expected to form the core of a draft plan released later this year. 

The action document is not even a draft, but it does offer several insights into how the Forest Service hopes to address ever-increasing recreational usage on the three stems of the river.

While skyrocketing visitation to nearby Glacier National Park has made headlines in recent years, the nearby rivers are also experiencing an enormous increase in use. Perhaps there’s no better example of that use than the area around Blankenship Bridge, where the Middle and North forks of the river converge just north of Coram. In summer, the river and shore become a beehive of activity with what seems like a never-ending parade of boat traffic. The most memorable example of the absurdity came in 2021 . 

The action document does not suggest that a management plan would enact limits on how many people could use each section of the river, but it does list a specific capacity that, if exceeded, would start to have a negative impact on the river. For example, it states the top capacity for the North Fork between the Canadian border and Polebridge is 180 people per day. On the other end of the spectrum, the Middle Fork from West Glacier to the confluence with South Fork at Hungry Horse can handle 1,280 people per day. 

The document also provides a list of potential actions the final plan could take. For example, the Forest Service is considering enacting a permit program on the river, although it would not limit how many permits it issues. The program would be implemented in phases over different sections of the river, starting with the South and Middle forks. Also under consideration is a prohibition of motor vehicles camping on gravel bars (perhaps trying to ensure another bus doesn’t get stuck in the river). The Forest Service might also limit group sizes on the river to a maximum of 50 people. . 

The Forest Service is now accepting comments on the document, which can be or hand-delivered to the Hungry Horse-Glacier View Ranger Station in Hungry Horse or the Forest Supervisor’s Office in Kalispell. Two public information sessions will also be held at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell on Jan. 21 and 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. inside the Arts and Technology Building. 

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