The Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service have entered into an agreement on the construction and management of recreation at Yellowtail Darn and Reservoir in Montana and Wyoming, the Department of the Interior reported today.
Under the agreement, Reclamation is responsible for constructing boat ramps at Barry's Landing in Montana near the multi-purpose Yellowtail Dam, and also on the Wyoming shoreline of the reservoir, at Horseshoe Bend and Kane Bridge. The Bureau expects that construction of ramps will begin as early as the spring weather permits, so they will be ready to use in a few months while the 71-milelong reservoir is filling. The dam, now 84 percent complete, is scheduled to start impounding water later this year.
The National Park Service will plan and construct other details of the recreation developments and will operate and maintain them when construction is completed.
The Crow Indian Tribe, whose lands adjoin a portion of the reservoir in Montana, is reviewing plans to join in the recreational development of the reservoir area for tourist use. The agreement between the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service in no way limits the possible participation of the Crow Tribe, said Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall. He has indicated he wishes the Tribe to have full opportunity to consider ways in which it might take part in the development endeavor.
Yellowtail Dam and Reservoir, on the Bighorn Hiver, are the principal features of the Yellowtail Unit of Reclamation's Missouri River Basin Project. Primary purposes of the Unit are irrigation, flood control, and hydropower. Increased public interest in the area's recreation and fish and wildlife conservation potentials has brought these functions into national significance.
Legislation has been introduced in the 89th Congress to create a Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, with Yellowtail Reservoir as its central attraction.
