Holter Dam
Encyclopedia
Holter Dam is a hydroelectric
straight gravity dam
on the Missouri River
about 45 miles (72.4 km) northeast of Helena, Montana
, in the United States
. The dam, which was built between 1908 and 1918, is 1364 feet (415.7 m) long and 124 feet (37.8 m) high. The reservoir formed by the dam, Holter Lake (also known as Holter Reservoir) is 25 miles (40.2 km) long and has a storage capacity of 243000 acre.ft of water when full. The dam is a "run-of-the-river" dam
because it can generate electricity without needing to store additional water supplies behind the dam.
. Samuel Thomas Hauser
, a former Territorial Governor of the state of Montana
from 1885 to 1887, had had a lengthy career in bank
ing, mining
, railroads
, ranch
ing, and smelting
, but had encountered a series of financial setbacks after the Panic of 1893
which had nearly ruined him financially. In his early 60s, Hauser began to rebuild his finances by branching out into the relatively new industry of hydroelectric power generation. In 1894, he formed the Missouri River Power Company, and won the approval of the United States Congress
to build a dam 2 miles (3.2 km) below Stubbs' Ferry (which later was known as Hauser Dam
). In 1905, Hauser and other directors of the Missouri River Power Company formed the Helena Power Transmission Company (also known as the "Helena Power and Transmission Company"). The two companies merged on February 16, 1906, to form the United Missouri River Power Company. The merged company completed Hauser Dam on February 12, 1907. The dam was a steel dam
built on masonry
footings on top of gravel, with the ends of the dam anchored in bedrock
on either side of the river. On April 14, 1908, Hauser Dam failed after water pressure undermined the masonry footings (the steel dam itself being structurally sound). United Missouri River Power began reconstruction of Hauser Dam in July 1908 (completing the dam in the spring of 1911).
The United Missouri River Power Company had begun construction of Holter Dam in 1908 before the failure of Hauser Dam. Hauser had conceived of a dam at the present location in 1906 to supply the newly formed Amalgamated Copper Mining Company (a forerunner to Anaconda Copper
) with electricity. The dam was named for Anton Holter, president of the Helena Transmission Power Company and by 1908 a director of the United Missouri River Power Company. Hauser formed a subsidiary, the Capital City Improvement Company, to seek investment money and build the dam for the power company. John Ripley Freeman
was the dam's design engineer
(he also worked on the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct
, the Charles River Dam
, the Keokuk Dam
, the Los Angeles Aqueduct
, and the Panama Canal
). Stone & Webster
, a Boston-based firm, was the construction company. But cost overruns, waning investor enthusiasm, and the liability associated with the collapse of Hauser Dam nearly drove Samuel Hauser (United Missouri's largest shareholder) into bankruptcy. Amalgamated Copper, which bought 75 percent of United Missouri's power and owned $1 million of its corporate bond
s, now began buying its power from Hauser's rival, John D. Ryan's
Great Falls Power Company. Construction on Holter Dam was halted in late 1910 after only part of the foundation had been poured. Hauser sold his interest in United Missouri River Power to Ryan, who on October 25, 1912, merged United Missouri River Power with the Butte Electric and Power Company, Billings and Eastern Montana Power Company, and Madison River Power Company to form the Montana Power Company. Montana Power took over not only United Missouri's Canyon Ferry Dam
and Hauser Dam but the partially built Holter Dam as well.
Montana Power resumed building the structure in March 1916. The reason for resuming construction was to supply power to the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway
and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad
. The Chas. T. Main
company (whose Western Office was in Butte, Montana
) was hired to revisit the design. Henry A. Herrick, an employee of the power company, was the consulting engineer
for Main. The major change implemented by Main and Herrick was to install vertical rather than horizontal turbines, although some changes were made to the wastewater system and the dam's downstream face. Stone & Webster continued to be the construction company, and more than 500 men worked on the project. The S. Morgan Smith Company of York, Pennsylvania
, designed the water wheel
s for the turbines. The 1916-1918 construction camp was the largest ever built by Montana Power. There were more than 115 buildings at the construction site, including a bunkhouse
and dormitories
for unmarried men, cottages for married men, a dining hall, a bathing house, storage sheds, garages, a photography studio, school, hospital, and sewer. Although most of the structures were tents or wooden buildings intended for short-term use, seven of the structures were renovated into permanent housing for the dam's operators. Two more homes were built for operators after construction ended. Montana Power spent $1.3 million in 1916 and $1.5 million in 1917 to finish the dam. Holter was completed and brought online for power generation in 1918. It was the sixth and last dam completed by the company in that decade.
In its original configuration, Holter Dam was expected to be 1350 feet (411.5 m) long and 110 feet (33.5 m) high, but ended up being slightly larger. At the time, Holter was the tallest hydroelectric dam on the Missouri River. The penstock
s are 24 feet (7.3 m) to 32 feet (9.8 m) below the water level when the reservoir is full. The dam had four vertical single-runner 15,000-horsepower
water turbine
s, seven main electrical generator
s and three exciters, and was capable of generating 40,000 kilowatts
of power. Aside from the powerhouse and water intakes, the dam has three sections: a central section where water is permitted to flow over the dam, and a left and right section anchored to the bedrock where water is not able to flow over the dam. The dam incorporated flashboards into the crest of the dam to permit overflow. The dam has 31 flashboards, each of them 16 feet (4.9 m) high.
As of 1994, Holter Dam, its powerhouse, its nearby operator housing and abandoned construction camp, its railroad switchyard, and the nearby maintenance buildings are one of the most intact historic hydroelectric generating facilities in Montana.
depth of 50 feet (15.2 m) and a maximum depth of 121 feet (36.9 m). Holter Lake stores 243000 acre.ft of water when full. The distance between Hauser Dam and Holter Lake is 4.6 miles (7.4 km).
The Missouri River runs free for 90 miles (144.8 km) between Holter Dam and the five dams at Great Falls, Montana
.
forms much of the surface rock through which the Missouri River flows at Holter Dam. The limestone is rich in fossil
s, mostly brachiopod
s like clam
s, mussel
s, and mollusks. Holter Lake sits atop the Eldorado thrust fault
, which juxtaposes Proterozoic
Belt Supergroup
Greyson Shale over much younger Madison Limestone and is part of the Sevier orogeny
.
Holter Lake has two parts, dubbed upper Holter Lake and lower Holter Lake. The central section of the lake is a narrow, 5 miles (8 km) neck, marked at its downstream end by the Gates of the Mountains
. The Gates of the Rocky Mountains were first seen by white people when the Lewis and Clark Expedition
passed through the area in 1805. Captain Meriwether Lewis
wrote on July 19, 1805:
The Gates of the Mountains has been tourist attraction since the period 1886 to 1906, when the steamboat
Rose of Helena traversed the Missouri River through this area. Although the Missouri River once ran swiftly through the Gates of the Mountains, Holter Dam drastically reduced the flow of water so that now the area has almost no current. Water levels in the Gates are now 14 feet (4.3 m) higher than they were in 1805.
. The gulch
was the site of the 1949 Mann Gulch fire
, which claimed the lives of 13 smokejumper
s. The incident is the subject of author Norman Maclean
's book Young Men and Fire
. Today, Mann Gulch is most commonly reached by boat.
generating capacity. The long-term median
flow over and through Holter Dam as of 2005 was 7610 cufoot per second. Flows into Holter Lake and over Holter Dam are generally considered to be controlled by flows from Canyon Ferry Dam. The total annual discharge from Holter Dam between 1929 and 1988 was an average of 3700000 acre.ft per year.
The wooden flashboards of Holter Dam were replaced in 1972.
Montana Power shut down electrical generation at Holter Dam in 1984 after a forest fire
destroyed a 100,000-volt
electric power transmission
line.
In June 1999, Montana Power proposed lowering the level of Holter Lake by 16 feet (4.9 m) for six weeks so that the flashboards could be repaired and replaced. Public criticism of the drawdown was extensive, but Montana Power insisted that it go ahead. But in August 1999, Montana Power put its repair plans on hold.
On November 2, 1999, Montana Power announced it was selling all of its dams and other electric power generating plants to PPL, Inc. for $1.6 billion. The sale was expected to generate $30 million in taxes for the state of Montana (although MPC said the total would be lower). Subsequently, in May 2000 PPL announced it would use small steel cofferdam
s to drain the water around the flashboards and allow their repair without lowering the level of the lake. The cost of using the cofferdams was $300,000. Twenty-one of the dam's 31 flashboards were replaced.
In November 2001, citizens of Montana upset with energy price increases announced by PPL sought passage of a ballot initiative that would require the state of Montana to buy all of PPL's hydroelectric dams, including Holter Dam. Montana voters rejected the initiative in November 2002. Also in 2001, Holter Dam participated in an emergency management
training exercise which, in part, planned for the catastrophic failure of Holter Dam.
The public used to be able to walk across the top of Holter Dam (which provided easy access to both sides of the river), but the dam was closed to the public after the September 11 attacks. Holter Dam was one of the last two such PPL dams to be closed.
While effective at generating electricity, well-designed, and well-engineered, Holter Dam is considered an exceptionally unpleasant structure visually. In 1927, however, the Montana Legislature commissioned painter
Ralph E. DeCamp to depict Holter Dam as one of four mural paintings to hang in the state's Law Library (located in the Montana State Capitol
). Japanese
photographer
Toshio Shibata
has also photographed the dam, and exhibited this work in 1997 in Chicago
at the Museum of Contemporary Art
.
Today, Holter Dam and Holter Lake are a popular recreational area for boating, fishing, hiking, and camping. Just below Holter Dam is the Blue Ribbon trout fishing section of the Missouri River. Five-pound (2.27 kg) rainbow trout
are commonly caught here, and trout weighing 10 pounds (4.5 kg) or more have been caught. Many fish are 18 inches (45.7 cm) or longer. Rainbow trout outnumber brown trout
here by a 6:1 ratio. At Holter Lake, rainbow trout weighing 3 pounds (1.4 kg) are commonly caught. There are also stable, significant populations of burbot
and stonecats below the dam. Until recently, kokanee salmon
and yellow perch
were also abundant below the dam, but increasing number of walleye and increased water flows have reduced these populations to as little as 4 percent of historic levels.
According to Montana wildlife officials, "Holter Reservoir has historically been one of the most diverse and productive multi-species fisheries in the state." Rainbow trout, kokanee salmon, walleye
, and yellow perch are all found there in abundance. In 1992, "catch-and-release only" regulations were imposed on brown trout to protect the fragile population numbers of these fish. Eight years later, state officials imposed a 50-fish limit on the number of yellow perch which may be caught.
Management of the fishery immediately downstream of Holter Dam necessarily involves management of the dam and reservoir. In autumn 1996, whirling disease
was confirmed in the Missouri River below Holter Dam. Fishing on the 15 miles (24.1 km) stretch of Missouri River below Holter Dam doubled between 1989 and 1999, according to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks
. These pressures led state wildlife managers to implement in March 2002 limits on the catch of rainbow trout on this part of the Missouri River. By 2002, fishing levels just below Holter Dam had doubled from their 1993 levels. This section of the Missouri River was now the most heavily fished body of water in the state. In 2009 and 2010, a fungal disease killed large numbers of mature brown trout below Holter Dam.
Holter Dam was relicensed by the federal government in 1997. Until that year, a steering committee composed of state fish and wildlife experts, the Montana Power Company, the United States Bureau of Reclamation
, the United States Forest Service
, and representatives of agricultural irrigators and sportsmen managed Holter Dam to optimize recreation and to minimize negative impacts on fish and wildlife. The dam's owners were required to conduct an environmental impact statement
as part of their 1997 relicensure, however. This document led to new guidelines, adopted by PPL, which requires the dam's owner to not only continue to operate Holter Dam as a run-of-the-river dam but also to maintain water levels behind the dam within a certain range. In January 2011, as part of its management efforts, PPL agreed to donate $1.2 million to fund 41 conservation projects along the Missouri and Madison
rivers, which included restoring and increasing riverside vegetation along 4.5 miles (7.2 km) of the Missouri River below Holter Dam and a study of the walleye feeding habits below Holter Dam.
Drought
has also affected the dam's operation. No water was permitted to flow over the dam in 1986 due to drought. In 1992, water flowed over the dam's crest on only a single day. In wetter years, water flows over the dam almost continuously. A severe drought struck the state of Montana beginning in 1999. By May 2004, the dam was permitting only 3500 cufoot to 3000 cufoot per second downriver. These flows were well below the 4100 cufoot per second needed to keep the fishery healthy. The low water flows, coupled with whirling disease, led to a 40 percent drop in big fish (those over 17 inches (43.2 cm) in length) as well as lower overall numbers of fish immediately below the dam. A 2005 proposal by the managers of the Helena National Forest
to draw down Holter Lake by 2 foot (0.6096 m) in August 2005 in order to repair Coulter Campground near the Gates of the Mountains had fishermen and recreational outfitters angry due to the likely side-effects on the downstream fishery. But a 2006 study by state wildlife biologists found that, although there had been a slight decline in the number of all fish as well as the sizes of all fish since the sport fish population peaked in 1999, those declines were slight compared to what had been predicted. A 2006-2007 survey of burbot and stonecats in the Missouri River immediately below Holter Dam found four times as many burbot as expected. Heavy snowpack and spring rains in 2008, however, forced dam operators to increase the flow to 11000 cufoot per second. By June, flows increased to 16000 cufoot per second, permitting a "flush" of the river. Flows stayed double their typical flow rates even in July 2008.
More recently, in 2009 wildlife experts worried that walleye
were washing over Holter Dam into the blue-ribbon trout fishery below the dam. Walleyes are predatory fish that eat small trout and yellow perch, and there were calls to alter the overflow procedures at Holter Dam to prevent walleye from escaping into the lower parts of the Missouri River. In 2010, the State of Montana proposed a 10-year fishery management plan for 11 sport and 10 non-sport fish species in Holter Lake. The regulations would have permitted unlimited walleye fishing below Holter Dam as a means of protecting trout from this voracious, nonnative predator species. Final regulations are due to be published in March 2011.
Northern pike are also a problem in Holter Lake. The fish has long been present in small numbers in the lake, where it consumes more desirable native species like burbot, brown trout, and cuttrout trout. In March 2011, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks set no limit on the number of northern pike anglers may take from Holter Lake and the waters just above it. A month later, the agency said it had completed an environmental assessment of a plan to remove northern pike from the Missouri River and its feeder streams. The agency sought public comment on the plan, which it said would take three to five years to complete at a cost of $20,000. The agency intended to use nets and “passive” fish traps to remove the pike, but might employ "active" measure like electric fishing, gill netting, or trap netting if the passive measures were not effective.
Holter Lake has been described by one recreational guide as "the most awe-inspiring of the three upper Missouri Lakes." The reservoir is surrounded by the Beartooth Wildlife Management Area, Gates of the Mountains Game Preserve, Gates of the Mountains Wilderness
, and the Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area
. There are abundant numbers of bald eagle
s, bighorn sheep
, elk
, falcon
s, golden eagle
s, hawk
s, mountain goat
s, osprey
, and pelicans in the area. Meriwether Lewis first identified Lewis's Woodpecker
nearby. Birds of prey can routinely be seen plucking fish from Holter Lake and the Missouri River below the dam. An open-air tourboat offers river-based tours of the Gates of the Mountains. The Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) manages much of the surrounding public lands as a Recreation Area. BLM maintains four campgrounds at Holter Lake: Beartooth Landing (accessible only by boat; no land access), Holter Lake, Log Gulch, and Departure Point. BLM also controls access to the river below Holter Dam. BLM reconstructed the Holter Dam Campground in 2007.
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
straight gravity dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
on the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
about 45 miles (72.4 km) northeast of Helena, Montana
Helena, Montana
Helena is the capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. The 2010 census put the population at 28,180. The local daily newspaper is the Independent Record. The Helena Brewers minor league baseball and Helena Bighorns minor league hockey team call the...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The dam, which was built between 1908 and 1918, is 1364 feet (415.7 m) long and 124 feet (37.8 m) high. The reservoir formed by the dam, Holter Lake (also known as Holter Reservoir) is 25 miles (40.2 km) long and has a storage capacity of 243000 acre.ft of water when full. The dam is a "run-of-the-river" dam
Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity
Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation whereby a considerably smaller water storage called pondage or none is used to supply a power station. Run-of-the-river power plants are classified as with or without pondage...
because it can generate electricity without needing to store additional water supplies behind the dam.
Holter Dam
Holter Dam was built by the United Missouri River Power Company and the Montana Power CompanyMontana Power Company
The Montana Power Company was an electric utility company based in Butte, Montana which provided electricity to Montana consumers and industry from 1912 to 1997.- History :...
. Samuel Thomas Hauser
Samuel Thomas Hauser
Samuel Thomas Hauser was an American industrialist and banker who was active in the development of Montana Territory...
, a former Territorial Governor of the state of Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
from 1885 to 1887, had had a lengthy career in bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
ing, mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, railroads
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
, ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
ing, and smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
, but had encountered a series of financial setbacks after the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
which had nearly ruined him financially. In his early 60s, Hauser began to rebuild his finances by branching out into the relatively new industry of hydroelectric power generation. In 1894, he formed the Missouri River Power Company, and won the approval of the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to build a dam 2 miles (3.2 km) below Stubbs' Ferry (which later was known as Hauser Dam
Hauser Dam
Hauser Dam is a hydroelectric straight gravity dam on the Missouri River about northeast of Helena, Montana, in the United States. The original dam, built between 1905 and 1907, failed in 1908 and caused severe flooding and damage downstream. A second dam was built on the site in 1908 and opened...
). In 1905, Hauser and other directors of the Missouri River Power Company formed the Helena Power Transmission Company (also known as the "Helena Power and Transmission Company"). The two companies merged on February 16, 1906, to form the United Missouri River Power Company. The merged company completed Hauser Dam on February 12, 1907. The dam was a steel dam
Steel dam
A steel dam is a type of dam that is made of steel, rather than the more common masonry, earthworks, concrete or timber construction materials.Relatively few examples were ever built...
built on masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
footings on top of gravel, with the ends of the dam anchored in bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
on either side of the river. On April 14, 1908, Hauser Dam failed after water pressure undermined the masonry footings (the steel dam itself being structurally sound). United Missouri River Power began reconstruction of Hauser Dam in July 1908 (completing the dam in the spring of 1911).
The United Missouri River Power Company had begun construction of Holter Dam in 1908 before the failure of Hauser Dam. Hauser had conceived of a dam at the present location in 1906 to supply the newly formed Amalgamated Copper Mining Company (a forerunner to Anaconda Copper
Anaconda Copper
Anaconda Copper Mining Company was one of the largest trusts of the early 20th century. The Anaconda was purchased by Atlantic Richfield Company on January 12, 1977...
) with electricity. The dam was named for Anton Holter, president of the Helena Transmission Power Company and by 1908 a director of the United Missouri River Power Company. Hauser formed a subsidiary, the Capital City Improvement Company, to seek investment money and build the dam for the power company. John Ripley Freeman
John Ripley Freeman
John Ripley Freeman was an American civil and hydraulic engineer. Freeman was born in West Bridgton, Maine and received his undergraduate degree from MIT in 1876...
was the dam's design engineer
Design engineer
Design Engineer is a general term that covers multiple engineering disciplines including electrical, mechanical, industrial design and civil engineering, architectural engineers in the U.S...
(he also worked on the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct
Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct
The Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct is a conveyance of Tuolumne River water runoff from federal lands in Yosemite National Park to San Francisco and its client municipalities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area...
, the Charles River Dam
Charles River Dam
The Charles River Dam is a flood control structure on the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts, located just downstream of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, near Lovejoy Wharf, on the former location of the Warren Bridge.-History:...
, the Keokuk Dam
Lock and Dam No. 19
Lock and Dam No. 19 is a lock and dam located on the Upper Mississippi River near Keokuk, Iowa. In 2004, the facility was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as Lock and Dam No. 19 Historic District, #04000179 covering , 7 buildings, 12 structures, 1 object. The lock is owned and...
, the Los Angeles Aqueduct
Los Angeles Aqueduct
The Los Angeles Aqueduct system comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power...
, and the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
). Stone & Webster
Stone & Webster
Stone & Webster is an American engineering services company based in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Stone & Webster was founded as an electrical testing lab and consulting firm by electrical engineers Charles Stone and Edwin Webster in 1889. It was acquired by The Shaw Group in 2000. The company...
, a Boston-based firm, was the construction company. But cost overruns, waning investor enthusiasm, and the liability associated with the collapse of Hauser Dam nearly drove Samuel Hauser (United Missouri's largest shareholder) into bankruptcy. Amalgamated Copper, which bought 75 percent of United Missouri's power and owned $1 million of its corporate bond
Corporate bond
A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation. It is a bond that a corporation issues to raise money in order to expand its business. The term is usually applied to longer-term debt instruments, generally with a maturity date falling at least a year after their issue date...
s, now began buying its power from Hauser's rival, John D. Ryan's
John D. Ryan (mining)
John Dennis Ryan was an American industrialist and copper mining magnate. President of Anaconda Copper Mining Company and creator of Montana Power Company.-Biography:...
Great Falls Power Company. Construction on Holter Dam was halted in late 1910 after only part of the foundation had been poured. Hauser sold his interest in United Missouri River Power to Ryan, who on October 25, 1912, merged United Missouri River Power with the Butte Electric and Power Company, Billings and Eastern Montana Power Company, and Madison River Power Company to form the Montana Power Company. Montana Power took over not only United Missouri's Canyon Ferry Dam
Canyon Ferry Dam
Canyon Ferry Dam is a concrete gravity dam in a narrow valley of the Missouri River where the Big Belt Mountains and the Spokane Hills merge, approximately downstream from the confluence of the Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson Rivers, and about east of the city of Helena, Montana...
and Hauser Dam but the partially built Holter Dam as well.
Montana Power resumed building the structure in March 1916. The reason for resuming construction was to supply power to the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway
Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway
The Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway is a short line railroad in the U.S. state of Montana which was founded in 1892. It was financed by the interests behind the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and operated primarily to carry copper ore from the mines at Butte, Montana to the smelters at...
and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...
. The Chas. T. Main
Chas. T. Main
-History:It was founded in 1893 by Charles T. Main, an engineer for the textile mills of New England. It was privately owned by its senior engineers, it being felt that this would leave decision making to those that knew the industry best...
company (whose Western Office was in Butte, Montana
Butte, Montana
Butte is a city in Montana and the county seat of Silver Bow County, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. As of the 2010 census, Butte's population was 34,200...
) was hired to revisit the design. Henry A. Herrick, an employee of the power company, was the consulting engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
for Main. The major change implemented by Main and Herrick was to install vertical rather than horizontal turbines, although some changes were made to the wastewater system and the dam's downstream face. Stone & Webster continued to be the construction company, and more than 500 men worked on the project. The S. Morgan Smith Company of York, Pennsylvania
York, Pennsylvania
York, known as the White Rose City , is a city located in York County, Pennsylvania, United States which is in the South Central region of the state. The population within the city limits was 43,718 at the 2010 census, which was a 7.0% increase from the 2000 count of 40,862...
, designed the water wheel
Water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful forms of power. A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface...
s for the turbines. The 1916-1918 construction camp was the largest ever built by Montana Power. There were more than 115 buildings at the construction site, including a bunkhouse
Bunkhouse
A bunkhouse is a hostel or barracks-like building that historically was used to house working cowboys on ranches in North America. As most cowboys were young single men, the standard bunkhouse was a large open room with narrow beds or cots for each individual and little privacy...
and dormitories
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
for unmarried men, cottages for married men, a dining hall, a bathing house, storage sheds, garages, a photography studio, school, hospital, and sewer. Although most of the structures were tents or wooden buildings intended for short-term use, seven of the structures were renovated into permanent housing for the dam's operators. Two more homes were built for operators after construction ended. Montana Power spent $1.3 million in 1916 and $1.5 million in 1917 to finish the dam. Holter was completed and brought online for power generation in 1918. It was the sixth and last dam completed by the company in that decade.
In its original configuration, Holter Dam was expected to be 1350 feet (411.5 m) long and 110 feet (33.5 m) high, but ended up being slightly larger. At the time, Holter was the tallest hydroelectric dam on the Missouri River. The penstock
Penstock
A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydraulic turbines and sewerage systems. It is a term that has been inherited from the technology of wooden watermills....
s are 24 feet (7.3 m) to 32 feet (9.8 m) below the water level when the reservoir is full. The dam had four vertical single-runner 15,000-horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
water turbine
Water turbine
A water turbine is a rotary engine that takes energy from moving water.Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now they are mostly used for electric power generation. They harness a clean and renewable energy...
s, seven main electrical generator
Electrical generator
In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
s and three exciters, and was capable of generating 40,000 kilowatts
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
of power. Aside from the powerhouse and water intakes, the dam has three sections: a central section where water is permitted to flow over the dam, and a left and right section anchored to the bedrock where water is not able to flow over the dam. The dam incorporated flashboards into the crest of the dam to permit overflow. The dam has 31 flashboards, each of them 16 feet (4.9 m) high.
As of 1994, Holter Dam, its powerhouse, its nearby operator housing and abandoned construction camp, its railroad switchyard, and the nearby maintenance buildings are one of the most intact historic hydroelectric generating facilities in Montana.
Holter Lake
Holter Dam raised the water level behind it by about 100 feet (30.5 m), creating the 24 miles (38.6 km) long Holter Lake (also known as Holter Reservoir). Holter Lake has a surface area of 4800 acres (1,942.5 ha). The lake has a meanArithmetic mean
In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean, often referred to as simply the mean or average when the context is clear, is a method to derive the central tendency of a sample space...
depth of 50 feet (15.2 m) and a maximum depth of 121 feet (36.9 m). Holter Lake stores 243000 acre.ft of water when full. The distance between Hauser Dam and Holter Lake is 4.6 miles (7.4 km).
The Missouri River runs free for 90 miles (144.8 km) between Holter Dam and the five dams at Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County...
.
Geology beneath and around Holter Dam
Madison LimestoneMadison Limestone
The Madison Limestone is a thick sequence of mostly carbonate rocks of Mississippian age in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains areas of western United States. The rocks serve as an important aquifer as well as an oil reservoir in places...
forms much of the surface rock through which the Missouri River flows at Holter Dam. The limestone is rich in fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s, mostly brachiopod
Brachiopod
Brachiopods are a phylum of marine animals that have hard "valves" on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the front can be opened for feeding or closed for protection...
s like clam
Clam
The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...
s, mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s, and mollusks. Holter Lake sits atop the Eldorado thrust fault
Thrust fault
A thrust fault is a type of fault, or break in the Earth's crust across which there has been relative movement, in which rocks of lower stratigraphic position are pushed up and over higher strata. They are often recognized because they place older rocks above younger...
, which juxtaposes Proterozoic
Proterozoic
The Proterozoic is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The name Proterozoic comes from the Greek "earlier life"...
Belt Supergroup
Belt Supergroup
The Belt Supergroup, is an assemblage of Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks which outcrop chiefly in western Montana, but also exposed in Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, and British Columbia. It is most famous as the formation that makes up Glacier National Park in northwest Montana...
Greyson Shale over much younger Madison Limestone and is part of the Sevier orogeny
Sevier orogeny
The Sevier orogeny was a mountain-building event that affected western North America from Canada to the north to Mexico to the south. This orogeny was the result of convergent boundary tectonic activity between approximately 140 million years ago and 50 Ma. The Sevier River area of central Utah...
.
Gates of the Mountains
Gates of the Mountains Wilderness
The Gates of the Mountains Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of Montana. Created by an act of Congress in 1964, the wilderness is managed by Helena National Forest...
. The Gates of the Rocky Mountains were first seen by white people when the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
passed through the area in 1805. Captain Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark...
wrote on July 19, 1805:
The Gates of the Mountains has been tourist attraction since the period 1886 to 1906, when the steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
Rose of Helena traversed the Missouri River through this area. Although the Missouri River once ran swiftly through the Gates of the Mountains, Holter Dam drastically reduced the flow of water so that now the area has almost no current. Water levels in the Gates are now 14 feet (4.3 m) higher than they were in 1805.
Mann Gulch
Between upper and lower Holter Lake, near the Gates of the Mountains, lies Mann GulchMann Gulch
Mann Gulch is a gulch in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness of the upper Missouri River, north-northeast of Helena, Montana, in southeastern Lewis and Clark County. It is on the east side of the Missouri River and approximately east of Interstate 15 , between Helena and Wolf Creek...
. The gulch
Gulch
A gulch is a deep V-shaped valley formed by erosion. It may contain a small stream or dry creek bed and is usually larger in size than a gully. Occasionally, sudden intense rainfall may produce flash floods in the area of the gulch....
was the site of the 1949 Mann Gulch fire
Mann Gulch fire
The Mann Gulch fire of 1949 was a wildfire in the Helena National Forest, Montana, United States, which claimed the lives of 13 firefighters including 12 smoke jumpers who were parachuted into the area to fight the fire, but were unable to control it....
, which claimed the lives of 13 smokejumper
Smokejumper
A smokejumper is a wildland firefighter who parachutes into a remote area to combat wildfires.Smokejumpers are most often deployed to fires that are extremely remote. The risks associated with this method of personnel deployment are mitigated by an extremely well developed training program that has...
s. The incident is the subject of author Norman Maclean
Norman Maclean
Norman Fitzroy Maclean was an American author and scholar noted for his books A River Runs Through It and Other Stories and Young Men and Fire .-Biography:...
's book Young Men and Fire
Young Men and Fire
Young Men and Fire is a non-fiction book written by Norman Maclean. It is an account of Norman Maclean's research of the Mann Gulch fire of 1949 and the 13 men who died there. The fire occurred in Mann Gulch in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness on August 5...
. Today, Mann Gulch is most commonly reached by boat.
Operation of the dam
As of 2010, Holter Dam had a 50 megawattWatt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
generating capacity. The long-term median
Median
In probability theory and statistics, a median is described as the numerical value separating the higher half of a sample, a population, or a probability distribution, from the lower half. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the observations from lowest value to...
flow over and through Holter Dam as of 2005 was 7610 cufoot per second. Flows into Holter Lake and over Holter Dam are generally considered to be controlled by flows from Canyon Ferry Dam. The total annual discharge from Holter Dam between 1929 and 1988 was an average of 3700000 acre.ft per year.
The wooden flashboards of Holter Dam were replaced in 1972.
Montana Power shut down electrical generation at Holter Dam in 1984 after a forest fire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
destroyed a 100,000-volt
Volt
The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
electric power transmission
Electric power transmission
Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...
line.
In June 1999, Montana Power proposed lowering the level of Holter Lake by 16 feet (4.9 m) for six weeks so that the flashboards could be repaired and replaced. Public criticism of the drawdown was extensive, but Montana Power insisted that it go ahead. But in August 1999, Montana Power put its repair plans on hold.
On November 2, 1999, Montana Power announced it was selling all of its dams and other electric power generating plants to PPL, Inc. for $1.6 billion. The sale was expected to generate $30 million in taxes for the state of Montana (although MPC said the total would be lower). Subsequently, in May 2000 PPL announced it would use small steel cofferdam
Cofferdam
A cofferdam is a temporary enclosure built within, or in pairs across, a body of water and constructed to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out, creating a dry work environment for the major work to proceed...
s to drain the water around the flashboards and allow their repair without lowering the level of the lake. The cost of using the cofferdams was $300,000. Twenty-one of the dam's 31 flashboards were replaced.
In November 2001, citizens of Montana upset with energy price increases announced by PPL sought passage of a ballot initiative that would require the state of Montana to buy all of PPL's hydroelectric dams, including Holter Dam. Montana voters rejected the initiative in November 2002. Also in 2001, Holter Dam participated in an emergency management
Emergency management
Emergency management is the generic name of an interdisciplinary field dealing with the strategic organizational management processes used to protect critical assets of an organization from hazard risks that can cause events like disasters or catastrophes and to ensure the continuance of the...
training exercise which, in part, planned for the catastrophic failure of Holter Dam.
The public used to be able to walk across the top of Holter Dam (which provided easy access to both sides of the river), but the dam was closed to the public after the September 11 attacks. Holter Dam was one of the last two such PPL dams to be closed.
While effective at generating electricity, well-designed, and well-engineered, Holter Dam is considered an exceptionally unpleasant structure visually. In 1927, however, the Montana Legislature commissioned painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
Ralph E. DeCamp to depict Holter Dam as one of four mural paintings to hang in the state's Law Library (located in the Montana State Capitol
Montana State Capitol
The Montana State Capitol is the state capitol of the U.S. state of Montana. It houses the Montana State Legislature and is located in the state capital of Helena at 1301 East Sixth Avenue. The building was constructed between 1896 and 1902 with wing-annexes added between 1909 and 1912.-History:A...
). Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
photographer
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
Toshio Shibata
Toshio Shibata
is a Japanese photographer known for his large-format photographs of large-scale works of civil engineering in unpopulated landscapes.Shibata was born in Tokyo. He graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts with a B.A. in 1972 and an M.F.A. in 1974 in which he concentrated primarily on painting...
has also photographed the dam, and exhibited this work in 1997 in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
at the Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
.
Recreational aspects and fishery management
Rainbow trout
The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....
are commonly caught here, and trout weighing 10 pounds (4.5 kg) or more have been caught. Many fish are 18 inches (45.7 cm) or longer. Rainbow trout outnumber brown trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
here by a 6:1 ratio. At Holter Lake, rainbow trout weighing 3 pounds (1.4 kg) are commonly caught. There are also stable, significant populations of burbot
Burbot
The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...
and stonecats below the dam. Until recently, kokanee salmon
Sockeye salmon
Sockeye salmon , also called red salmon or blueback salmon in the USA, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it...
and yellow perch
Yellow perch
The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...
were also abundant below the dam, but increasing number of walleye and increased water flows have reduced these populations to as little as 4 percent of historic levels.
According to Montana wildlife officials, "Holter Reservoir has historically been one of the most diverse and productive multi-species fisheries in the state." Rainbow trout, kokanee salmon, walleye
Walleye
Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...
, and yellow perch are all found there in abundance. In 1992, "catch-and-release only" regulations were imposed on brown trout to protect the fragile population numbers of these fish. Eight years later, state officials imposed a 50-fish limit on the number of yellow perch which may be caught.
Management of the fishery immediately downstream of Holter Dam necessarily involves management of the dam and reservoir. In autumn 1996, whirling disease
Myxobolus cerebralis
Myxobolus cerebralis is a myxosporean parasite of salmonids that causes whirling disease in farmed salmon and trout and also in wild fish populations...
was confirmed in the Missouri River below Holter Dam. Fishing on the 15 miles (24.1 km) stretch of Missouri River below Holter Dam doubled between 1989 and 1999, according to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is a government agency in the executive branch state of Montana in the United States with responsibility for protecting sustainable fish, wildlife, and state-owned park resources in Montana for the purpose of providing recreational activities...
. These pressures led state wildlife managers to implement in March 2002 limits on the catch of rainbow trout on this part of the Missouri River. By 2002, fishing levels just below Holter Dam had doubled from their 1993 levels. This section of the Missouri River was now the most heavily fished body of water in the state. In 2009 and 2010, a fungal disease killed large numbers of mature brown trout below Holter Dam.
Holter Dam was relicensed by the federal government in 1997. Until that year, a steering committee composed of state fish and wildlife experts, the Montana Power Company, the United States Bureau of Reclamation
United States Bureau of Reclamation
The United States Bureau of Reclamation , and formerly the United States Reclamation Service , is an agency under the U.S...
, the United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
, and representatives of agricultural irrigators and sportsmen managed Holter Dam to optimize recreation and to minimize negative impacts on fish and wildlife. The dam's owners were required to conduct an environmental impact statement
Environmental impact statement
An environmental impact statement , under United States environmental law, is a document required by the National Environmental Policy Act for certain actions "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment". An EIS is a tool for decision making...
as part of their 1997 relicensure, however. This document led to new guidelines, adopted by PPL, which requires the dam's owner to not only continue to operate Holter Dam as a run-of-the-river dam but also to maintain water levels behind the dam within a certain range. In January 2011, as part of its management efforts, PPL agreed to donate $1.2 million to fund 41 conservation projects along the Missouri and Madison
Madison River
The Madison River is a headwater tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 183 miles long, in Wyoming and Montana. Its confluence with the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks, Montana form the Missouri River....
rivers, which included restoring and increasing riverside vegetation along 4.5 miles (7.2 km) of the Missouri River below Holter Dam and a study of the walleye feeding habits below Holter Dam.
Drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
has also affected the dam's operation. No water was permitted to flow over the dam in 1986 due to drought. In 1992, water flowed over the dam's crest on only a single day. In wetter years, water flows over the dam almost continuously. A severe drought struck the state of Montana beginning in 1999. By May 2004, the dam was permitting only 3500 cufoot to 3000 cufoot per second downriver. These flows were well below the 4100 cufoot per second needed to keep the fishery healthy. The low water flows, coupled with whirling disease, led to a 40 percent drop in big fish (those over 17 inches (43.2 cm) in length) as well as lower overall numbers of fish immediately below the dam. A 2005 proposal by the managers of the Helena National Forest
Helena National Forest
Helena National Forest is located in west-central Montana, in the United States. Covering 976,000 acres , the forest is broken into several separate sections. The eastern regions are dominated by the Big Belt Mountains, and are the location of the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness, which remains...
to draw down Holter Lake by 2 foot (0.6096 m) in August 2005 in order to repair Coulter Campground near the Gates of the Mountains had fishermen and recreational outfitters angry due to the likely side-effects on the downstream fishery. But a 2006 study by state wildlife biologists found that, although there had been a slight decline in the number of all fish as well as the sizes of all fish since the sport fish population peaked in 1999, those declines were slight compared to what had been predicted. A 2006-2007 survey of burbot and stonecats in the Missouri River immediately below Holter Dam found four times as many burbot as expected. Heavy snowpack and spring rains in 2008, however, forced dam operators to increase the flow to 11000 cufoot per second. By June, flows increased to 16000 cufoot per second, permitting a "flush" of the river. Flows stayed double their typical flow rates even in July 2008.
More recently, in 2009 wildlife experts worried that walleye
Walleye
Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...
were washing over Holter Dam into the blue-ribbon trout fishery below the dam. Walleyes are predatory fish that eat small trout and yellow perch, and there were calls to alter the overflow procedures at Holter Dam to prevent walleye from escaping into the lower parts of the Missouri River. In 2010, the State of Montana proposed a 10-year fishery management plan for 11 sport and 10 non-sport fish species in Holter Lake. The regulations would have permitted unlimited walleye fishing below Holter Dam as a means of protecting trout from this voracious, nonnative predator species. Final regulations are due to be published in March 2011.
Northern pike are also a problem in Holter Lake. The fish has long been present in small numbers in the lake, where it consumes more desirable native species like burbot, brown trout, and cuttrout trout. In March 2011, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks set no limit on the number of northern pike anglers may take from Holter Lake and the waters just above it. A month later, the agency said it had completed an environmental assessment of a plan to remove northern pike from the Missouri River and its feeder streams. The agency sought public comment on the plan, which it said would take three to five years to complete at a cost of $20,000. The agency intended to use nets and “passive” fish traps to remove the pike, but might employ "active" measure like electric fishing, gill netting, or trap netting if the passive measures were not effective.
Holter Lake has been described by one recreational guide as "the most awe-inspiring of the three upper Missouri Lakes." The reservoir is surrounded by the Beartooth Wildlife Management Area, Gates of the Mountains Game Preserve, Gates of the Mountains Wilderness
Gates of the Mountains Wilderness
The Gates of the Mountains Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of Montana. Created by an act of Congress in 1964, the wilderness is managed by Helena National Forest...
, and the Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area
Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area
Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area is a non-motorized recreation area located on the west side of the Missouri River and Holter Lake located about north of Helena, Montana. Designated as a wilderness study area in 1981, the Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area contains approximately of nearly...
. There are abundant numbers of bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
s, bighorn sheep
Bighorn Sheep
The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep in North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to , while the sheep themselves weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae...
, elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
, falcon
Falcon
A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
s, golden eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
s, hawk
Hawk
The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...
s, mountain goat
Mountain goat
The Mountain Goat , also known as the Rocky Mountain Goat, is a large-hoofed mammal found only in North America. Despite its vernacular name, it is not a member of Capra, the genus of true goats...
s, osprey
Osprey
The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...
, and pelicans in the area. Meriwether Lewis first identified Lewis's Woodpecker
Lewis's Woodpecker
The Lewis's Woodpecker, Melanerpes lewis, is a large North American species of woodpecker which was named for Meriwether Lewis, one of the explorers who surveyed the areas bought by the United States of America during the Louisiana Purchase.-Description:...
nearby. Birds of prey can routinely be seen plucking fish from Holter Lake and the Missouri River below the dam. An open-air tourboat offers river-based tours of the Gates of the Mountains. The Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
(BLM) manages much of the surrounding public lands as a Recreation Area. BLM maintains four campgrounds at Holter Lake: Beartooth Landing (accessible only by boat; no land access), Holter Lake, Log Gulch, and Departure Point. BLM also controls access to the river below Holter Dam. BLM reconstructed the Holter Dam Campground in 2007.