11 Most Endangered

Great Falls Portage

Year Listed: 2008
Location: Great Falls , Montana
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development

Great Falls Portage

Great Falls. Photo by National Park Service.

Great Falls Portage

Stunning landscape in Great Falls. Photo by Montana Preservation Alliance.

Great Falls Portage

The interpretive sign at Great Falls Portage, located in the heart of the landmark in Great Falls, Montana. Photo by Great Falls-Cascade County Historic Preservation Office Learn More

Significance

The Great Falls Portage, one of the best preserved and most accessible landscapes along the Lewis and Clark Trail, is a windblown, undeveloped rural area surrounded by mountains and a panorama of blue Montana skies. This National Historic Landmark marks the location where, in 1805, the historic expedition faced its most challenging obstacle —the 18-mile, 31-day portage around the Great Falls of the Missouri River.

Updates

May 2008 - The Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative, Inc. (SME) sought financial support from the USDA Rural Utilities Service to build the Highwood Generating station, a $720 million coal-fired power plant that would produce 250-megawatts of power and serve up to 120,000 rural electricity customers from Great Portage to Billings. The plant was proposed inside the boundaries of the Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark raising grave concerns about the impact that project would have on the Portage Site. Construction plans included a large 435-acre power generation facility with a 400-foot smoke stack, four 262-foot wind turbines, secondary buildings, access roads, transmission lines, lights and miles of railroad tracks. Despite receiving 1,500 letters of protest from concerned citizens, the Cascade County Commission voted in 2006, and, most recently, in January 2008, to rezone this agricultural land to allow for industrial activity.

March 2009 - The USDA Rural Utilities Service is no longer involved in providing funding for the project and SME is modifying its plans to include a natural gas generation facility which may be an alternative to, or supplemental to, earlier plans for a coal-fired facility. In addition, the United States Army Corps of Engineers needs to issue a Section 10 water intake permit for the facility and is now the lead federal agency for the project. The National Trust along with a large group of partner organizations are participating in the National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 consultation process for the project. Concerns about the impact to the cultural landscape of the Portage Site remain unresolved.