Governor's Upper Yellowstone River Task Force

In the wake of back-to-back, 100-year flood events, Montana’s Governor appointed the Upper Yellowstone River Task Force in November 1997. The Task Force was directed to bring together landowners, sportsmen/women, and community leaders, and to provide a forum for the discussion of the issues, competing values, and uses that impact the River.

From 1997 to 2003, the Task Force conducted an interdisciplinary study to assess the cumulative effects of bank stabilization, natural, and other channel modification on the physical, biological, and cultural attributes of the upper Yellowstone River.

The Task Force completed their directive in August 2003 by developing 43 consensus-based river management recommendations. Those recommendations were formally presented to Governor Judy Martz on October 20, 2003.

The Task Force had a web site that documented their activitites and served as their document repository.  The site was taken offline in 2010, but it is still preserved at the Internet Archive:

• Governor's Task Force Web Site 

The following documents produced by the Task Force are available from the State Library:

• Final Report to the Governor
• 2002 Annual Report
• 2001 Annual Report
• 2000 Annual Report
• 1999 Annual Report

• 43 Consensus-Based Recommendations

• Physical Features Inventory
• Upper Yellowstone River Wetland Mapping Project
• Socio-Economic Assessment
• Fish Populations Study
• Fish Habitat Study
• Historic Land Use
• Land Cover Assessment
• Land Cover Mapping Report
• Riparian Habitat Dynamics and Wildlife
• Riparian Trend Analysis
• Geomorphology Study
  • Geomorphology Study Figures
  • Geomorphology Study Plates
• Flood Profile Data and Floodway Boundaries
• Sediment Transport Investigations​

• Task Force Business Documents