From the Thursday, July 17, 2008 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, legislation that protects some 219 miles of waterway on the Flathead National Forest.

While the Act was passed in 1968, local rivers protected under the Act — the North Fork of the Flathead, the Middle Fork of the Flathead and the South Fork of the Flathead — were not included until 1976.

In that year, oil and gas exploration as well as Canadian coal mines were all threatening the North Fork — a situation that isn’t far removed today.

Read the entire article . . .