The septic system has been installed and two new homes are slated to be built on an island in the Bitterroot River, thanks to our Ravalli County Commissioners. The site is reached by the bridges of Victor Crossing. Commissioner Greg Chilcott, up for re-election in November, was a driving force in repealing our longstanding floodplain regulations in January, 2015 – ignoring dozens of scientists, ecologists, fishing guides and various federal and state agencies.
The problems with building in the flood fringe which is in the floodplain are obvious. As one scientist stated, “It is like setting your tent up in the middle of the highway when no cars are coming.” In the coming decades, these new homes will likely have to have riprap (boulders, etc.) installed in our river to protect the homes from washing away. Every new riprap project that occurs on our river furthers its demise. Additionally, homeowners are known to use far more pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer at a far greater rate and much more frequently than any rancher or farmer would ever dream of. These poisons get into our river and further its degradation.
Our beautiful Bitterroot River is our jewel. Our economy is increasingly dependent on it for tourism, fishing, sightseeing, wildlife production and as a wildlife corridor.
The Bitterroot River is compromised already. Gone are the mussel beds that blanketed the bottoms of the deeper holes. Gone are the “smelt” that the old-timers still speak of netting as children. Gone are the two-foot Dolly Varden (bull trout) that Vance Bay and Jack Dowling used to catch. The cottonwood groves that the whole ecology of the Bitterroot River depend on are dying – unable to regenerate due to riprap and overgrazing.
In June, one of the commissioners who favored this further degradation of our river lost his seat to Chris Hoffman. Chris believes that building in the floodplain is a bad idea. In November we can elect another man who knows this obvious truth. Big Dave Smith is a man who cares about the health of our river and our economy. He knows that a healthy river means a healthy economy.
Please vote for Big Dave Smith on November 8 – Chilcott has been there way too long. It’s time to have Commissioners who care about the health of our river and thus our economy.
Andy Roubik
Corvallis