"As I admired the beautiful river, I found my admiration was overshadowed by reports that there is trouble at the Yellowstone's headwater. The river has been named the second most endangered river in the U.S. for 2006.
Why?
Because of people and development.
Development on the upper Yellowstone has increased by 57 percent in the past two decades. Some 600 buildings now are located in the river's 100-year flood plain in the Paradise Valley area. People have put riprap, levees and dikes along the river's banks to protect themselves from erosion and flooding, according to groups such as America's Rivers and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.
These changes are making the river run faster and creating opportunities for more flooding downstream, the groups say. There also are six low-head diversion dams downstream from Billings, Mont., which hinder the passage of pallid sturgeon, paddlefish and other fish species of special concern.
How sad it would be to change the wild Yellowstone River into a dammed, sluggish and controlled waterway. But then, I looked at North Dakota's Missouri River, which has the same kind development on its banks.
It would be wise for both states to carefully evaluate development on rivers. And we certainly should keep the Russian olive from crowding out our indigenous trees."
Get the Story:Dorreen Yellow Bird: Wild rivers need our protection (The Grand Forks Herald 6/30)
pwpwd More Dorreen Yellow Bird:
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Yellow Bird: Festival days and prairie nights (6/20)
Yellow Bird: The case of the $54 million pants (6/18)
Yellow Bird: Monarch butterfly a special creature (6/13)
Yellow Bird: Graduates inspire with their lives (6/6)
Yellow Bird: Meth walks our reservations (6/4)
Yellow Bird: Commercials influence our lives (5/30)
Yellow Bird: Remember heroes on Memorial Day (5/28)
Yellow Bird: Blogger lacks facts about Indian life (5/22)
Yellow Bird: Indian culture changes in subtle ways (5/16)
Yellow Bird: Wolf knew it was ready to cross over (5/14)
Yellow Bird: Woman sees world with understanding (5/9)
Yellow Bird: Indian women and spiritual leadership (5/7)
Yellow Bird: Tighten gun control laws in North Dakota (5/3)
Yellow Bird: Easy ways at becoming more green (4/30)
Yellow Bird: School shootings just don't 'happen' (4/18)
Yellow Bird: The Red River Valley Flood of 1997 (4/9)
Yellow Bird: Women of color share their views (4/5)
Yellow Bird: UND powwow needs your support (4/2)
Yellow Bird: UTTC begs for funding year after year (3/26)
Yellow Bird: Even more about colon cancer screening (3/21)
Yellow Bird: Remembering my aunt/mother, Pearl (3/19)
Yellow Bird: Colon cancer screening essential (3/14)
Yellow Bird: Return land to North Dakota tribe (3/12)
Yellow Bird: Native Media Center at UND prospers (3/7)
Yellow Bird: Woody Keeble a true American hero (3/5)
Yellow Bird: Cell phone addiction affects driving (2/28)
Yellow Bird: UND has many reasons to be proud (2/26)
Yellow Bird: Signs of spring already in the air (2/21)
Yellow Bird: US automakers ignore innovation (2/19)
Yellow Bird: Tribes should snuff out smoking too (2/14)
Yellow Bird: On being Black or Indian 'enough' (2/9)
Yellow Bird: Braving the cold North Dakota winter (2/5)
Yellow Bird: Chokecherry for North Dakota state fruit (1/31)
Yellow Bird: Name-calling and bullying in schools (1/24)
Yellow Bird: Climate change impossible to ignore (1/17)
Yellow Bird: Tribes can help Indian doctors program (1/15)
Yellow Bird: Tribes have much to offer North Dakota (1/11)
Yellow Bird: Catching a ride on the Dakota wind (1/2)
