Please support us by signing the petition as 1370 individuals from 43 States have done before you and ask your friends to do the same. Click here to hear what they had to say. To assist us with a Donation please click here.

Our Goal is to bring an end to the pending hydro dam project application and to protect the creek from all similar proposals in the future. East Rosebud Creek is truly Wild and Scenic. We want to make sure it stays that way. Forever.

East Rosebud Creek drainage surrounded by designated wilderness is about as close to paradise as it gets. Forest Service found this area eligible for Wild and Scenic River Protection for its outstanding Geologic, Recreational, and Scenic values. This pristine area is now endangered by a small output hydro dam project. A little bit of power for a lot of irreversible destruction . This site has been set up by Friends of East Rosebud to provide information and tools for people who want to help save this paradise.

Friends of East Rosebud, Inc.

We are moving on. Our target is permanent protection for East Rosebud Creek. To increase our standing we have incorporated Friends of East Rosebud as a Montana non-profit organization. We are a public charity under section 501 (c) (3) internal revenue code. To see who is on the Board of Friends of East Rosebud click here. We have a number of events planned for next year including a float at local fairs, neighborhood information meetings, and a Film Festival with documentary films featuring East Rosebud Creek and surrounding mountains. We will keep you informed through our email newsletter and on this site. For short term updates see also our Facebook Page.

Please mark June 29th 2013 in your calender for our East Rosebud Film Festival at the Branger Ranch.

Elected Officials and Agencies

We are in frequent contact to Forest Service; MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks; DNRC; FERC and other agencies to discuss ongoing activities of the pending hydro project and conservation issues involved. In addition we have started asking our elected officials for meetings this spring to discuss the situation and ways for permanent protection of the East Rosebud Creek. We had the chance to talk to our Governor in Helena and received a very positive response. First meetings with our Congessional Delegation have been sceduled for late April.

Become a Business Supporter

We started a list of company and organization supporters which will be on our web site soon. If you own or run a business: Please beome a Supporter of Friends of East Rosebud. It does not cost anything. But it will help a lot. Find out who signed up as a supporter and how to join. Click here.

In the news this year

Status update 2012

Hydrodynamics Inc's preliminary permit to study the feasibility of a hydro dam on East Rosebud Creek is still valid until next summer. So far they have not applied for their next step which would include onsite evaluations of their project's feasibility. Friends of East Rosebud have focused their activities this year on getting more public support by building this web page: www.saveeastrosebud.org and by starting a facebook page. We also started an online petition and information service early 2012. We had very good press coverage and were able to win a large number of individuals, companies and organizations for our cause. The focus from here on will be not only to avert the pending dam project but to achieve permanent protection status for upper East Rosebud Creek which would make all future dam projects impossible.

2012 Press Coverage:

Guest Opinion in Billings Gazette:

Letters to the Editor of Billings Gazette:

June 30th 2012 Activities at the Lake

Some 240 participants joined us for our meeting at the Lake, learned something about birds, flowers, and the history of the area. And they listened what our speakers had to tell about the planned hydro development, its permitting process and ways to protect the area now and forever. If you want to see pictures you may want to visit the Faceboock Page of Friends of East Rosebud

Your help will be needed at this point

Hydrodynamics Inc., the company proposing the hydro power project has received a permit for a feasibility study from FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, docket # P-13531) in June 2010. They have to file a progress report every 6 months. For their last report click button on right side. In order to do a preliminary feasibility study, they have to contact Custer National Forest (FS). FS then will start their NEPA study (National Environment Protection Act) and as a part of it there will be a 30 day period for public comments. Congressmen will be kept informed as part of this scoping process. Important for us: Only 30 days to comment. This is the time everybody needs to be ready and act.

Get Active at the Right Time

As a next step the project company, Hydrodynamics Inc., will need to make a proposal to Forest Service to start their feasibility study: The extend of the proposal will drive the amount of analysis required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In any case Forrest Service will have to ask for public comments within a 30 day period. That is the time when 1000s should write their opinion to Forest Service and also to their congress men, senators, to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and to every journalist they can find. We do not know yet when this will be. Sign on to our e-mail alerts, and we will keep you informed.

Sample letters to voice your opinion:

feel free to change whatever you want to change

Address your concerns to:

The more letters, e-mails, phone calls,.... the better

Send your opinion to FERC:

This was posted on Friends of East Rosebud

Past news coverage and documents

Stay tuned:

We will post updates on this website

More info, pictures and comments are on the Facebook site of Friends of East Rosebud.

We will send you an e-mail for important updates if you provide your e-mail address. Your e-mail address will not be used for other purposes.

-

Your help wanted:

This site is only as good as its contents is up-to-date. If you hear something important that we have not posted yet: Please let us know.

-

Background:

East Rosebud Creek originates high in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, flowing from the slopes of Montana’s highest peaks through East Rosebud Lake and out onto the prairie where it joins the Yellowstone River. The East Rosebud Valley, formed long ago by advancing glaciers, is thought by many to be one of Montana’s most beautiful valleys. Lying within the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, East Rosebud Creek possesses remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, and historic values. To quote Pat Marcuson, noted fisheries biologist and author of the popular fishing book Fishing the Beartooths, the spectacular East Rosebud Creek is “the land of plenty; plenty of waterfalls, plenty of glaciers, plenty of vertical walls, plenty of fish, plenty of wildlife, plenty of visitors”. One can find eagles nesting, Mountain Goats and Big Horn sheep, Black and Grizzly bears and a rare wolverine, see moose sparing in the fall, hear the elk bugling, spot Mountain Lions, foxes, and wolves and of course plenty of Whitetail and Mule Deer. Anglers can catch Brown, native Cutthroat, Rainbow, and Brook Trout, as well as native Mountain Whitefish. But this valley is also threatened. There are individuals who would like to profit from this free-flowing creek by building a hydropower dam 400 feet downstream of East Rosebud Lake. The proposed dam would be 8 feet high and 100 feet long with 2 miles of penstocks leading to a power generating station next to popular Jimmy Joe Campground. We need your help. There are other individuals who believe that East Rosebud Creek deserves Wild and Scenic River designation by our government in order to permanently protect it from harmful dams and water projects. The purpose of this site is to give you easy access to project information and possible roads of intervention. Please help to protect and preserve one of Montana’s most valued treasures.