Rumors have persisted for the last few days that Holter Dam and Boat ramp will be closing on Tues. due to the impending Government shut down. I made the call to the BLM office this morning to verify. “True that”, said the manager that I spoke to. Starting Tuesday – yes, tomorrow – both the boat ramp and campground below Holter will be closed until Congress gets this all sorted out.
BLM Confirms
According to sources we spoke to at the BLM, this shutdown will affect all “sites” for both the BLM and USFS. In our immediate area, this means that all of the campgrounds and launches administered by BLM on Holter Lake will be closed as well. But that’s just us. This shutdown will affect numerous access’s to rivers all through Montana and the West. I’m thinking dozen’s of popular fishing access’s in the West may be affected. Madison River?
We’re fortunate that Hotler Dam is our only BLM/USFS administered access. None of the state Fishing Access Sites (FAS) will be affected as far as we know.
Access to unimproved BLM lands will not be affected, so hunters need not worry unless they are using “improved” BLM/USFS campgrounds. At least that’s how I understand it. I guess tomorrow morning we will find out, but after talking to BLM and watching the news, I’m guessing our buddies Ken and Max (above) won’t be fishing this spot this weekend…