Enjoy The Clark Fork River This Summer With A Free Shuttle
Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - There’s great news for all who enjoy floating the Clark Fork River during these hot summer days.
I spoke with University of Montana Director of Strategic Communications Dave Kuntz this week about a continuing tradition providing a free UM bus shuttle to take recreational floaters and their tubes to Clark Fork River access sites.
UM to Again Provide Free Clark Fork River Shuttle Bus this Summer
“For anybody who lives here in the Missoula area or drives through town, they see this starting usually about this week,” began Kuntz. “The Fourth of July brings the high volume of floaters up and along the Clark Fork River, but it's really become a summertime tradition, so being strong partners with the community, the University of Montana is once again launching a free shuttle service this summer.”
UM Provides the Service in the Interest of Safety for Floaters
Kuntz said UM offers the service in the interest of safety for the hundreds of people who want to cool off by floating the Clark Fork River.
“Instead of dealing with parking and some of the overuse that we see at some of the public access sites just east of town, the university will partner again with some of our local partners to be able to run a shuttle, to be able to drop floaters off, and then they can float back and pick up their cars right here on the University of Montana campus,” he said.
Visit the UM Website for Details on the River Shuttle Service
Kuntz said those interested in the shuttle schedule should visit the UM website for details.
“They can go to the ASUM transportation websites at umt.edu to better understand what we're capable of hauling and not able to haul,” he said. “What we really want to do here is take some of the pressure off of those public access sites, minimize some of the traffic that we've seen on see on some of these two-lane roads, and just give folks a safe option to be able to get on the river this summer.”
Kuntz said the service helps thousands of recreationists to more safely enjoy a Clark Fork River float.
UM Transports Thousands of Recreationists to Enjoy Floating the Clark Fork
“We usually provide this service, about 2,400 trips up the river per summer, and on the weekends, we see as many as 150 to 160 floaters utilize the service. So we're hoping that folks, whether they're a student or not, whether they live here in Missoula or just passing through, utilize the shuttle service to, once again, take some pressure off of the river.”
Kuntz encourages all floaters to wear the appropriate safety equipment as they enjoy floating the Clark Fork River.
He also thanked the many participants and sponsors of the free river shuttle program.
“We just want to really thank our partners, which include the Clark Fork Coalition, Missoula County, the City of Missoula, Montana FWP (Fish Wildlife and Parks), and the Missoula Conservation District, we wouldn’t be able to do it without some of the financial support that they're contributing so that we can run this service at no cost.”
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