Why Are Realtors Lobbying for Setbacks on the Bitterroot?
By Dana Green, 5-17-06 Fishing guides versus realtors – now that has the makings for a hot political battle in Montana. The two groups are going head-to-head in the Bitterroot Valley, at odds over who should control river and stream setbacks on the world-class fishing tributary. Surprisingly, there is no law in Montana requiring building setbacks from rivers and streams. When landowners buy prime riverfront property, they can plunk their dream house right next to the river’s edge – and then demand the river be rip-rapped to keep erosion from eating up their Kentucky blue grass. The evidence is clear on the Bitterroot River – on high banks, some houses are perched as close as they can get to the water outside the legal floodplain. In spots, the bank has been heavily rip-rapped, the riparian vegetation removed to make way for landscaping. Part of the problem is that the Bitterroot refuses to stay put. Instead, it is constantly shifting – threatening structures built too close to the rive
