New rules for river campers
Rafters and kayakers float the Middle Fork of the Flathead River west of Essex during peak tourist season last summer. New river regulations regarding human waste and campfires are taking effect on segments of the Flathead River system. Jennifer DeMonte/Daily Inter Lake
Guidelines tightened for sanitation at dispersed campsites along two rivers
The Flathead National Forest is ramping up regulations on its Wild and Scenic rivers due to increasing use and impacts in the rivers corridors.
On sections of the Middle and North Fork Flathead rivers, boaters on overnight trips now must carry portable toilet systems if they are not using campsites with restrooms.
Boaters also need to have fire pans or fire blankets.
Routine patrols for district river rangers commonly end with full garbage bags of toilet paper and other litter collected from dispersed campsites along the rivers, according to Paula Peterson, recreation specialist on the Hungry Horse-Glacier View ranger districts.
The sites may not look so bad from the water, but a quick look around often leads to campfire rings with unburnable litter. A closer inspection of the area usually reveals human waste and toilet paper.
"We affectionately call them white lilies," Peterson said.
"We are finding more and more human waste," she said. "We've watched the increase in the sanitation issue for the last few years … and we just feel it's time to put it to a higher level of regulation."
Outfitters and guides have been required to follow the "self-contained" camping rules for at least 10 years, Peterson said, but they have only been recommended for the general public.
Human waste containment and use of fire pans or blankets will remain recommended for floaters on the South Fork Flathead River. That river is less accessible and has not had dramatically increased use, Peterson said.
But the North and Middle Forks have, she said, and floaters have not been using "leave-no-trace" practices, such as breaking up and burying fire pits.
When fire rings get started they often get used repeatedly, Peterson said, "and they end up being a trap for debris" that doesn't burn.
Peterson stressed that the self-contained sanitation rules apply only to floaters who are staying at dispersed campsites.
Day-trip floaters or people who are camping at developed campsites with restrooms do not have to carry a "washable, leak-proof, reusable toilet system" or a "disposable, biodegradable bag toilet system that is approved for landfill disposal."
Both types of systems are available at outdoor retail stores or on the Internet. Some river outfitters are renting the systems, Peterson noted.
The new regulations also include overnight stay limits at several river-front campsites.
There are three-night limits at the Bear Creek, Paola , Cascadilla and Moccasin access sites on the Middle Fork, along with the Essex dispersed site.
The camping area on the southwest side of Blankenship Bridge has a three-day limit on the North Fork.
There are day-use-only rules in place for the access sites at West Glacier and on the northwest side of Blankenship Bridge.
The new rules are outlined in a revised "Three Forks River Floating Guide" that will soon be available at Flathead National Forest offices.
The rules already have been posted at all river access sites. They also are posted on the forest's Web site at: