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Regulatory Brief
Upper Missouri River Breaks Monument Draft Management Plan
Contents:
- Summary
- The Issue
- Recommendation
Summary
BLM's preferred alternative, depicted above, would close all but three of the Monument's 149 miles of river to seaplanes.
The Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, encompassing nearly 150 miles of the Missouri River, was established by
presidential proclamation in 2001. The Monument is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which is presently in the
process of developing a management plan for the administration of the Monument. The Bureau has published a draft management
plan with six alternatives. The Bureau's preferred alternative calls
for the closure of up to 146 miles of the Missouri River, leaving only three of the Monument's 149 river miles open to seaplanes.
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| Reference: |
Upper Missouri River Breaks Monument Draft Resource Management Plan
SPA Freedom of Information Act Request & BLM Response (PDF format, 420KB)
Summary of CSPA Phone Discussion with Gary Slagel (BLM) (PDF format, 27KB)
Seaplane Noise, by Aron Faegre (PDF format, 681KB)
Seaplanes and Birds, by Aron Faegre (PDF format, 66KB)
Seaplanes and Boats, by Aron Faegre (PDF format, 39KB)
Map of Viable Seaplane Routes
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| Responses: |
Columbia SPA Correspondence
Addendum to Columbia SPA Rebuttal
Rebuttal by Columbia SPA to BLM
SPA Comment Letter
Suggested Talking Points for Comments to BLM (PDF format, 15KB)
Form Letter for BLM Comments (PDF format, 12KB)
Alternate Format Options for Downloading Form Letter:
Plain Text (3KB)
Microsoft Word (29KB)
** PLEASE NOTE **
The Bureau of Land Management is seeking individual letters, not form letters. Please use the above form letter as a starting
point to draft your own unique comment letter.
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| Impact: |
Elimination of seaplane access to up to 149 miles of the Missouri River. |
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| Comment Deadline: |
April 26, 2006 |
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| Comments Address: |
Send comments to:
Gary Slagel, Monument Manager
Bureau of Land Management, Lewistown Field Office
P.O. Box 1160
Lewistown, MT 59457-1160
monumentrmp@blm.gov
Please include your complete mailing address with your comments, and send a copy to the Seaplane Pilots Association, 4315 Highland Park Blvd, Suite C, Lakeland, FL 33813 or email spa@seaplanes.org. |
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The Issue
The Bureau of Land Management's Draft Resource Management Plan for the Upper Missouri River Breaks Monument
proposes six different approaches for managing the Monument (click on links for graphic depictions):
- Alternative A maintains the existing management approach,
leaving portions of the river open to seaplanes throughout the year and other sections open only during the off-season. Seaplane
operations would remain prohibited within the Charles B. Russell Wildlife Refuge under existing USF&WS regulations. BLM's claim of existing seasonal closures in the Wild & Scenic segments of the river within the Monument has not yet been verified by SPA. (See
also Alternative A's motorboat regulations for comparison.)
- Alternative B emphasizes recreation, and would open all
of the river not within the Charles B. Russell Wildlife Refuge to year-round seaplane access. (See
also Alternative B's motorboat regulations for comparison.)
- Alternative C is a compromise alternative that would close
all portions of the river currently open only during the off-season, and would close most of the river that is currently open year-round.
Year-round access would be preserved only within the first three miles of the Monument, and seasonal access would be preserved only in an
eight-mile stretch of river in the middle of the Monument. (See
also Alternative C's motorboat regulations for comparison.)
- Alternative D is a compromise alternative that would close
all portions of the river currently open only during the off-season. Most of the river currently open to seaplanes year-round would be
restricted, allowing seaplane access only during the off-season. Only the first three miles of the river would remain open year-round.
(See
also Alternative D's motorboat regulations for comparison.)
- Alternative E favors a wilderness experience, and would close all 149 miles
of river within the Monument. (See
also Alternative E's motorboat regulations for comparison.)
- Alternative F, BLM's preferred alternative, closes all but the first three
miles of the river. (See
also Alternative F's motorboat regulations for comparison.)
The first three miles of the Monument, near Fort Benton, is regularly used by transiting seaplanes to access marinas, fuel, and other services. The remaining 146 miles of river within the Monument underlie the only viable East-West flyway for straight floatplanes, offering transiting seaplanes a place to land if weather or other circumstances make continued flight unsafe or
undesirable.
Recommendation
The Bureau of Land Management's draft document does not contain any factual or evidential basis for eliminating seaplane
access to the river. The Seaplane Pilots Association,
in partnership with the Columbia Seaplane Pilots Association and others, believe that because this is a federal navigable waterway
held in the public's trust, and used for interstate travel, that federal law requires that it remain open to seaplanes transiting
between the eastern and western United States. Further, it is believed that the Bureau of Land Management has no basis upon which to discriminate against seaplanes. Excluding seaplanes from stretches of river on which motorized boats will be permitted to operate is unjustifiable, and puts persons and property at risk by discouraging transiting seaplanes from alighting on the river to wait out bad weather or fix mechanical discrepancies. Taken together with the existing closure of the river within the Charles B. Russell Wildlife Refuge downstream, the BLM's preferred management plan would prohibit seaplane operations on nearly 200 contiguous miles of the Missouri River.
Members are encouraged to write to the BLM at the address above prior to the April 26, 2006 comment deadline. Point out the critical importance of this stretch of river to interstate navigation via seaplane, and question the defensibility of the distinction the BLM draws between motorboats and seaplanes. Please copy the Seaplane Pilots Association on your correspondence.
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