BUTTE — The State of Montana is showing its support for restoring the first mile of Silver Bow Creek after presenting a memorandum of understanding before Butte’s Council of Commissioners this week.
“And we’re excited about where we’ve come through in the process and look forward to working with the community provided that the CD is accepted by the court,” said the governor’s natural resources advisor Patrick Holmes.
Butte is waiting on the Consent Decree that outlines the cleanup of mine waste along the creek. However, the memorandum supports not only the cleanup but having the portion of Silver Bow Creek running through Butte brought back to life.
Local supporters say restoring the creek is important to the environment.
“The most eastern edge of the water that reaches the Pacific starts right here in Silver Bow Creek. It’s been referenced that way before, and we’re trying to get that restored,” said Northey Tretheway with Butte’s Restore Our Creek.
“You see these other communities that have a nice free-flowing creek through their community, there’s a lot of community events and activities that seem to take place in that area and we can have that here too, but we really kind of need to keep this ball moving,” said Tretheway.
