A close look at what protecting 219 miles of wild river actually requires.

The Three Forks of the Flathead River in northwest Montana didn’t just earn Wild and Scenic designation — they inspired the law that made it possible. In the 1950s, a proposed dam at Spruce Park would have dewatered the Middle Fork entirely, routing its flow through a mountain tunnel into Hungry Horse Reservoir. Wildlife biologists John and Frank Craighead floated the river to document what would be lost, and their fight against the dam seeded the movement that became the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. The Three Forks themselves weren’t formally designated until 1976 — 50 years ago this year.

Recorded live at Lake Baked in Bigfork, Montana during the annual Whitewater Festival, this episode features Sheena Pate, executive director of the Flathead Rivers Alliance (FRA), in conversation with Bill and Anders about what protecting 219 miles of wild river actually requires on the ground today. FRA runs a River Ambassador Program, an annual noxious weed pull with 165 volunteers, water quality monitoring, youth programming, and boots-on-ground education at put-ins across all three forks — work that has become more urgent as recreation pressure has grown and federal agency capacity has shrunk.

The conversation covers the distinct character of the North, Middle, and South Forks; the transboundary dimension of the North Fork, which originates in Ktunaxa Nation territory in British Columbia; FRA’s partnerships with First Nations tribes and the Blackfeet; and the long-overdue update to the 1980s river management plan. Bill is a former board member of FRA who was there at the organization’s founding, which gives the conversation an unusually frank quality about what it takes to build a river stewardship organization from scratch.

In this episode:

• The origin of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act How John and Frank Craighead’s 1956 float of the Middle Fork, and their fight against the Spruce Park Dam proposal, directly seeded the movement that became the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act — and why the Flathead forks weren’t actually designated until 1976.
• Three forks, three personalities The North Fork’s remote, peaceful character; the Middle Fork’s whitewater and commercial raft traffic; and the South Fork’s backcountry access challenge, now increasingly reached by packraft.
• Outstanding remarkable values (ORVs) How the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act works in practice: the specific values — fisheries, recreation, scenery, ethnography — that federal agencies are mandated to protect, and how FRA helps translate those obligations into on-the-ground management.
• The River Ambassador Program How FRA puts volunteers at river access points to educate users before and during floats — and why half of those volunteers don’t even have a boat; they just love being at the river.
• The noxious weed pull A 22-year tradition started by raft guide Brenda Guzman [spelling unconfirmed] that now draws 165 volunteers annually to float and pull invasive weeds, then share a barbecue.
• Tribal partnerships How FRA works with the Ktunaxa Nation, the Blackfeet, and the Qlispe as integral partners and leaders in stewardship of the river system, and why every introduction to the Flathead starts with acknowledgment of those nations’ continued presence.
• The transboundary North Fork The northernmost section of the North Fork originates in British Columbia in Ktunaxa Nation territory and carries protections through memoranda of understanding limiting industrial extraction — a cross-border conservation relationship with no equivalent elsewhere in the system.
• The new river management plan Why the 1980s management plan is long overdue for an update, and what changes users can expect: standardized fire pan and fire blanket requirements, permit systems, and clearer guidance on human waste management across all three forks.
• The 50th anniversary celebration FRA’s Gateway to Glacier event on July 10 in Columbia Falls, Montana, bringing together community members, agency speakers, Craighead family connections, and live music to mark 50 years of Wild and Scenic designation.

Links & Resources

Organizations & Initiatives:

• Flathead Rivers Alliance (FRA) — Nonprofit organization founded in 2019 to protect the three forks of the Flathead Wild and Scenic River System through stewardship, education, and community programs.
• Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation — Conservation nonprofit that provided training support for FRA’s South Fork river ranger position; Bill Hodge is a former leader of this organization.
• Flathead Valley Trout Unlimited — Local chapter that co-funded the South Fork river ranger intern position for 2026.
• Whitefish Community Foundation — Funding partner for FRA’s South Fork river ranger position.
• Community for a Better Bigfork — Local nonprofit serving as de facto village government for unincorporated Bigfork; recently purchased the property housing Lake Baked to preserve it as community space.
• Crown of the Continent Geotourism Council — Regional tourism and conservation organization Sheena Pate worked with prior to joining FRA.

Places & Landscapes:

• Three Forks of the Flathead River, Montana — The North, Middle, and South forks of the Flathead comprise 219 miles of nationally designated Wild and Scenic river, the inspiration for the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.
• North Fork of the Flathead — Remote, multi-day float river running along the western boundary of Glacier National Park; headwaters originate in Ktunaxa Nation territory in British Columbia.
• Middle Fork of the Flathead — The whitewater fork, running along the southern boundary of Glacier National Park; the river whose near-loss to a proposed dam sparked the Wild and Scenic movement.
• South Fork of the Flathead — Remote wilderness river originating in the Bob Marshall Wilderness; accessible primarily by packraft or via Shafer Meadows airstrip.
• Flathead Lake, Montana — Largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi; the three forks drain into it.
• Glacier National Park, Montana — The North and Middle forks form its western and southern boundaries.
• Bob Marshall Wilderness, Montana — Headwaters of the South Fork and Upper Middle Fork; some of the most remote terrain in the lower 48.
• Spruce Park, Middle Fork of the Flathead — Site of the proposed dam that would have dewatered the Middle Fork; its defeat helped launch the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
• Shafer Meadows, Montana — Historic backcountry airstrip providing fly-in access to the Upper Middle Fork of the Flathead.
• Crown of the Continent — The broader ecosystem encompassing Glacier National Park and the Flathead watershed, recognized as one of the most intact temperate ecosystems in North America.
• Bigfork, Montana — Site of the live recording; unincorporated village on the northeastern shore of Flathead Lake, home to the annual Whitewater Festival on the Swan River.
• Columbia Falls, Montana — Location of FRA’s 50th anniversary Gateway to Glacier celebration on July 10, 2026.
• Buffalo National River, Arkansas — America’s first national river, designated 1972; mentioned by Anders as his personal connection to the Wild and Scenic system.

Government & Policy:

• Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (1968) — Federal law establishing the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, protecting free-flowing rivers and their outstanding remarkable values from development; inspired directly by the fight to preserve the Middle Fork of the Flathead.
• Wild and Scenic designation of the Three Forks of the Flathead (1976) — The formal congressional designation that protected the North, Middle, and South forks; the 50th anniversary of this designation is being celebrated in 2026.
• Comprehensive River Management Plan — The congressionally mandated planning document governing management of the Wild and Scenic river system; the Flathead’s plan dates to the 1980s and a long-overdue update is expected imminently.

People Mentioned:

• John Craighead and Frank Craighead — Twin wildlife biologists from Missoula who floated the Middle Fork of the Flathead in 1956, documented what a proposed dam would destroy, and championed the movement that became the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
• Brenda Guzman — Raft guide who started the Flathead Rivers weed pull event approximately 22 years ago; the tradition is now hosted annually by FRA with 165 volunteers.

In 2023, Sheena Pate was named Flathead Rivers Alliance’s first Executive Director. She began her service to FRA as a contracted Watershed Coordinator in 2021 jumpstarting flagship River Ambassador Program. She looks forward to continuing to support the organization’s robust portfolio of projects and programs with partners to advance stewardship of this river system.

Sheena is a river enthusiast who floated rivers long before she could walk and worked her first job at a whitewater company. Over 20 years she has served as a hydrologist, communication specialist and project coordinator in the watershed science field, in Montana and Colorado. She strongly believes that awareness is an essential stepping stone towards the realization and protection of our natural resources for future generations. Sheena holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from University of Montana and B.S. in Watershed Science from Colorado State University. You’ll often find her on the river taking turns with her son and daughter on the oars and faithful Bridger searching for the best fetch stick. 

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