There are several changes this year for those hoping to float one of Montana’s most well known rivers.
Yellowstone Public Radio’s Orlinda Worthington explains the changes.
This spring, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff will remove pit toilets at the campsites along the Smith River.
All float parties, private and commercial, will be required to pack out their human waste from the Smith River corridor.
FWP’s Colin Maas (Moss) is the Recreation Manager for the Smith.
He says only portable toilets approved by FWP will be allowed.
“One of the reasons there's approved toilets is, um, we install a device, it's called a scat machine down at the Eden Bridge takeout, and, it’s a machine that's designed to clean and sanitize the portable toilets when people get off the river and get down to the Eden Bridge takeout," Maas said.
Maas says the agency has been discussing the requirement for several years.
“Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the United States Forest Service were our partners have been digging toilets on the Smith River since about 1983. We would dig on average, probably about 35 to 40 toilets per year. And as time went on, it was just becoming unsustainable to the point where we were running, literally running out of places to locate pit toilets," Maas said.
Other changes come from House Bill 846, passed in the last legislative session.
Those include a bonus point system that gives residents more opportunity to draw a permit, and a limit on the number of permits for out-of-state applicants.
A full list of the changes can be found on the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks website. The deadline for applications is February 14th.
