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Area Near Milltown Dam Could Be Closed for Two Years

By Beacon Staff

MISSOULA — The confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers could remain closed for another two years as restoration crews complete their work near the former Milltown Dam.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners tentatively decided Thursday to keep in place a rule that prohibits recreational access to the rivers a half-mile below the dam and 3 miles above it on the Clark Fork, and 1.5 miles above the mouth of the Blackfoot.

The dam was removed in 2008, but work is still being done on a new floodplain and channel on the Clark Fork. The Missoulian reports workers are also still removing logs and debris from a former sawmill reservoir in the Blackfoot.

The dam, built in 1908, unintentionally became a plug that held back 2.2 million cubic yards of toxic sediment flowing from mines in Butte and Anaconda.