Taking in the view
Canoe trip provides unique perspective of PPL Montana’s river stewardship

PPL Montana representatives and their counterparts from federal and state agencies and private conservation groups earlier in June saw firsthand the value of the company’s environmental stewardship in one of the most scenic river corridors in the state.

The upper Missouri River is the beneficiary of work that PPL Montana and its partners have done to preserve and protect Montana's great waterways.

Afloat in canoes, the group traveled 48 miles of the wild and scenic portion of the Missouri River, providing a unique perspective of PPL Montana’s role in working with its agency partners to preserve and implement fisheries, wildlife, habitat and recreation projects along the Madison and Missouri rivers.

“This stretch of river in the north central part of the state is a rich resource for the people of Montana, and we’re proud to be a partner in its conservation,” said PPL Generation President Bryce Shriver, who accompanied the group on the trip.

Agenda topics for the three-day trip, which began in historic Fort Benton — a well-known trading post in the 1800s — included recommendations for future efforts focusing on the public-private partnerships that support and protect the habitat along the river.

PPL Montana has committed more than $50 million through 2009 to improve river flow, water quality, fisheries, wildlife, habitat, recreation sites and cultural resources along Montana’s rivers and lakes where the company does business.

Since committing these funds, PPL Montana has worked with its partners to obtain an additional $50 million in state, federal and private conservation funds that otherwise would not have been available.

Brad Spencer, vice president-PPL Montana (left) and Bryce Shriver, president-PPL Generation, atop the "Hole in the Wall" rock formation along the upper Missouri River.

As part of its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Missouri-Madison Project 2188 License, PPL Montana has constructed 32 permanent recreation sites in partnership with agencies and the public along the Missouri-Madison river corridor, where the company operates nine hydroelectric projects. 

“Your imagination is set free when you’re along this part of the Missouri and looking out on a landscape that’s virtually unchanged since Lewis and Clark came through in 1805,” Shriver said. “That says everything to me about the importance of PPL Montana’s stewardship in this beautiful state.”

Also representing PPL Montana were Brad Spencer, vice president and chief operating officer; Jon Jourdonnais, director of Hydro Licensing and Environmental Compliance; Brent Mabbott, senior fisheries biologist; and Steve Leathe, license compliance professional.

PPL has 500 employees in Montana who generate and sell electricity. PPL Montana operates coal-fired power plants at Colstrip and Billings, as well as 11 hydroelectric plants along West Rosebud Creek and the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and Flathead rivers. It has a combined generating capacity of more than 1,200 megawatts and has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. PPL EnergyPlus operates a trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power in the wholesale and retail energy market. PPL Montana and PPL EnergyPlus are subsidiaries of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL).