Working and Playing the Land 



over other rights with "junior status," that is, rights 

 that were developed later, after the 1969 Murphy 

 Right initiation date. The State Water Plan's "in- 

 stream flow discussion paper" acknowledges that 

 Murphy Rights have "relatively junior status" and 

 are thus "ineffective in maintaining stream flows 

 when there is not enough water to satisfy all water 

 uses." 



Pulling Weeds— A "Show-me" Place 



The ranchers of Rock Creek are quick to 

 point out the benefits of their stewardship. They 

 are especially proud of their pioneering efforts to 

 control noxious weeds — the non- native plants that 

 can threaten native species, choke pasturelands and 

 strangle fisheries and waterways. Knapweed, Cana- 

 dian thistle and musk thistle are the major culprits 

 along upper Rock Creek, where roads, traffic, and 

 abandoned mine dumps have encouraged prolifera- 

 tion. The Montana Department of Agriculture sets 

 aside funds to help ranchers meet state weed con- 

 trol regulations. 5' But as one rancher put it, the state 

 has to rely on "peer pressure" to get weed control 

 programs off the ground. 



In 1985, Granite County took the lead, ob- 

 taining a S 56,000 grant from the Soil Conservation 

 Service to become a "show-me" area for weed con- 

 trol. Rancher Esther McDonald hired an engineer 

 and together they walked the public and private 

 lands of the county, mapping each species of nox- 

 ious weed. Then, they gathered the landowners — 

 including representatives of the Bureau of Land 

 Management, the Forest Service, the Department of 

 State Lands, and Montana Rail Link — described the 

 problem and outlined a five-year strategy. 



"We didn't ask people to spray," says Ms. 

 McDonald. "They could try biological control, dif- 

 ferent types of cultivation, they could pull the 

 weeds if they wanted." Eventually the project 

 bought sprayers and backpacks and, after setting up 

 a hotline and alerting people to possible allergic 

 reactions, rented a helicopter to spray Tordon on 

 pasturelands. Today, the county is divided into nine 

 weed control districts and the Granite County Weed 

 Control Board continues to lend out the spraying 

 equipment. Jim and Lorraine Gillies have organiz- 

 ed several ranchers in the Rock Creek basin to apply 

 for further grants. The public agencies are develop- 

 ing weed control programs, too, though liabilities 

 involving the use of chemicals slow their progress. 



Esther McDonald is most concerned about 

 Rock Creek Canyon. "That area is not nearly so 

 pretty any more with all those weeds," she says. 

 "Somebody ought to take the ball and clean out 

 those weeds, if you want to call it a blue ribbon 

 trout stream." Between absentee landowners and 

 Forest Service holdings, canyon residents say weed 

 control so far has been a lost cause. '» But Lolo 

 Forest ecologist Jack Losensky says it is coming. 

 Foresters met in February, 1991, to select weed con- 

 trol targets for Rock Creek: 



In the Valley of the Moon, 80 acres were sug- 

 gested for treatment of knapweed. At the old Puyear 

 Ranch, 60 acres were suggested for treatment of 

 knapweed and musk thistle. And at the Rock Creek 

 and Hogback Cabin sites, spot treatment of surround- 

 ing open meadows was suggested for knapweed, 

 musk thistle and Canadian thistle. "We'll be asking for 

 input from the people in the area," says Losensky. 

 "We'll probably choose one of these targets for 1991." 



Snakes, Floodplains, and Easements — 

 The Canyon Grows 



Weeds aside, the contrast between the up- 

 per basin and the canyon is immediately evident 

 to anyone driving the length of Rock Creek. The 

 333 parcels of privately owned land in the Rock 

 Creek drainage can be divided roughly into the up- 

 per basin ranches, typically larger than 3,000 acres, 

 and the subdivided lots of the canyon, typically 

 smaller than five acres. ^^ Despite the land and water 

 battles of the upper basin, it is the development of 

 the canyon that has caused the greatest uproar 



The most outrageous development con- 

 troversy to date arose at the mouth of Rock Creek 

 from reptiles and neon. People who drove the 

 highways of Idaho, Washington and Montana dur- 

 ing the 1960s were familiar with the gaudy 

 billboards advertising the "Snake Pit" in State Line, 

 Idaho. Besides hosting the "Snake Pit," State Line 

 was known for its bars, cheap cigarettes, strippers 

 and massage parlors, according to the Missoulian. *° 

 The reptile business there was suffering. So in 

 August of 1977, Ted "Tex" Cordell decided to move 

 his "Snake Pit" to Montana, "the only state left 

 where you can erect a readable sign off a secon- 

 dary road or freeway without having any pro- 

 blems," he told the Missoulian. '^^ Unfortunately for 

 him, the land he found available in Montana was 

 on Rock Creek; where others saw a blue ribbon 

 trout stream, Cordell saw only a freeway exit. 



