BUTTE, Mont. (April 17, 2006) — PPL Montana and the Missouri-Madison River Fund Board have announced that up to $600,000 in private and public funds is available this year for qualifying public recreation projects along the Missouri and Madison rivers.
“Through partnerships with state, federal and private organizations in the Missouri-Madison river corridor, the River Fund taps the expertise of organizations that share our commitment to enhance public recreation along these rivers and shorelines,” said Jon Jourdonnais, PPL Montana’s director of Hydro Licensing and Environmental Compliance.
PPL Montana has contributed more than $10 million for the development of 32 recreation projects along the Missouri-Madison river corridor encompassing six PPL Montana reservoirs — Hebgen, Madison, Hauser, Holter, Black Eagle and Rainbow. The company consulted with agencies and the public to design and build these projects under its federal license agreement.
The money that has accumulated from federal, state and private cost sharing on the 32 recreation projects to date has been used to build a $6.7 million trust fund for public recreation along the Madison and Missouri Rivers. This River Fund now supports ongoing maintenance of existing projects and the development of new qualifying projects in an area extending from Hebgen Reservoir downstream to Fort Benton, excluding the Toston and Canyon Ferry hydroelectric projects and the river segment between them.
The fund is administered through the collaborative efforts of PPL Montana; Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks; U.S. Forest Service; Bureau of Land Management; Madison, Gallatin, Broadwater, Lewis & Clark, Cascade and Chouteau counties; and numerous other public and private partners.
“We look forward to identifying additional recreation needs this year to fulfill our requirements and to benefit the public. The River Fund allows us to make a difference in our state,” Jourdonnais said.
Funding for 2006 will be made up of $200,000 from PPL Montana, interest from the River Fund and matching agency money. It will be awarded to qualifying projects that provide a benefit to public recreation in the project area and address an identified need for public recreation and one or more issues and goals developed through a coordinated planning effort for the project area.
Details on this planning effort and requirements can be found in the 2005 Missouri-Madison Comprehensive Recreation Plan at www.apleco.com. Proposed projects must be consistent with agency management plans in the project area and the Project 2188 FERC License.
To request an application, contact the River Fund at American Lands, 125 Bank Street, Suite 610, Missoula, MT 59802; call (406) 431-4734; or access an online application at www.apleco.com.
PPL Montana’s funding to support the River Fund is part of an overall 10-year, $23 million commitment for recreational and other wildlife, fisheries, habitats and water quality river stewardship projects along a 524-mile portion of the Madison-Missouri River corridor.