Dear Friends of East Rosebud,
More than 200 of you attended the East Rosebud Film Festival at the
Branger Ranch in Roscoe, Montana. It was a typical Montana event with
traditional chili, country music, and the mandatory afternoon thunder shower.
Local landowners mixed with tourists. Ranchers talked to Forest Service
representatives. Conservation groups discussed with local business owners. They
all had come together to learn about the potential to designate East Rosebud
Creek Wild and Scenic. And they all had come together to help make it happen.
Friends of East Rosebud had invited to this event and the Branger family kindly
hosted it on their ranch right by East Rosebud Creek. Their historic 1900 barn
was set up to show short films promoting Wild & Scenic River designation
and the beauty of the Beartooth mountains. If you couldn’t make it to the East
Rosebud Film Festival; here are the films:
Wild and
Scenic
by Daniel Lombardi and Joel Harris
sponsored by Patagonia
http://vimeo.com/61809860
East Rosebud Episode 1 featuring Clint Branger
by Daniel Schmidt
sponsored Montana Rivers Coalition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RwRYyhZP90
East
Rosebud Episode 2 featuring Mary Ellen Mangus
by Daniel Schmidt
sponsored Montana Rivers Coalition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3OyA843bnM
Brandi Roman, Granite Peak Ascent
sponsored by Summit for Parkinson's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mIrJliifo
Greater Yellowstone Wildlife
"Best of Show at International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula"
by Scott McKinley
sponsored by Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=BUOQ_yPW_0s
After the first showing of films and a good bowl of chili made after
Sybil Branger’s old family recipe everybody listened to a couple of short
speeches.
Dave Branger told us about the 5 generations of Brangers that wrote
history in the East Rosebud drainage from building the lodge at East Rosebud
Lake, discovering the Arch above Arch Lakes, stocking mountain lakes with trout
to building the historic Beaten Path Trail to Cooke City. And during all this
time the Brangers have been active ranchers and outfitters that happily shared
the beauty of the Beartooth mountains and rivers with guests from near and far.
Gary Ferguson, famous author of wildlife, conservation and history
books, reminded us of the spirit of the old West that is still alive in
Montana. He explained that conservation is not a modern trend of an
intellectual elite but a basic building block of the American Dream – a means
by which we came to forge our very sense of identity. When novelist Lawrence
Durrell suggested that Americans are “children of the landscape,” he was
referring in part to the fact that our earliest notions of democracy were
expressed in notions of unfettered land, which as far back as the 1700’s
was often referred to as “the great equalizer.” Little wonder, then, that the
earliest symbols of patriotism, were images of wild nature.
Frank Annighofer informed that the permit for the hydro dam proposal had
expired on June 30th. Hydrodynamics’ spokesman had said that the
expected guaranteed sales rates for hydropower generated electricity did not
materialize and that they therefore did not pursue their permit at this point
in time. Frank explained that a new hydro proposal can pop up any time and that
Friends of East Rosebud are continuing their push for Wild and Scenic
designation for East Rosebud Creek. He informed about their recent discussions
with the MT Congressional Delegation and Forest Service headquarters in
Washington DC that give hope that the goal of Wild and Scenic designation can
be reached.
Scott Bosse and Mike Fiebig of American Rivers introduced the Montana
Rivers Coalition that besides themselves includes American Whitewater, the
Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the Clarks Fork Coalition. All together they
are pushing for getting some or all of the 0.6% of Montana’s eligible rivers
designated Wild and Scenic, starting with East Rosebud Creek. They explained
that many other states have been adding rivers to the Wild and Scenic inventory
over the past years including WY, ID, WA, OR, but not Montana.
The following Question and Answer part of the meeting gave an
opportunity to explain that Wild and Scenic legislation does not change any
prior land owner or water rights. Overall changes are actually very minor since
US Forest Service already manages East
Rosebud Creek as if it would be Wild and Scenic.
A big thank you to all that helped organizing this film festival. And a
big thank you to all our sponsors and supporters.
Frank