Mauer organized an educational river trip Thursday for a handful of county officials, including county commissioners, planning board members, and planning staff.

The agenda was to talk about building setbacks - and how they could potentially help protect the Bitterroot River and its tributaries.

Six boats put in at Stevensville, with a plan to meander along the scenic stretch and take out near Florence. For most of the float, the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge stretched along the eastern flank, while several older homes clung to the banks on the western side of the river.

The teachers for the day were a handful of guides - each of whom had spent a good part of their lives on the Bitterroot, and had a healthy appreciation for its diversity and beauty.

Enough of an appreciation, that they were willing to spend a day on the river with no fly rod in hand, under Mauer's orders.

For Casey Hackathorn, a Missoula-based guide, helping to demonstrate the importance of setbacks - and the uniqueness of the Bitterroot - was well worth a day off from fishing.

"If there was development along the whole corridor, the whole character of the river would change," he said. "It would have less recreational value. It just wouldn't be the same river."

For Mauer, the pristine beauty of the Bitterroot makes it unique - but its fishing makes it world-class.

In 1999, the Bitterroot was ranked fourth statewide for fishing days, behind the Missouri, the Madison and the Bighorn Rivers, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks figures.

In 2003, those figures had dropped slightly, but still kept the Bitterroot in the top tier as a premier fishing destination in Montana.

"This is a great river, not just a good one," Mauer said. "This resource is one of a kind."

For County Commissioner Betty Lund, it was a different view of the valley that she has traveled from one end to the other during her four-year term on the board.

Lund has scrutinized hundreds of subdivision applications, but even she was surprised by a smattering of houses that had cropped up along the river's edges north of Stevensville.

"I didn't even know those houses were down here," said Lund, pointing to a cluster of homes built right to the river's bank. "It changes so fast."

Those changes are what worry Mauer. As development comes fast and furious in the Bitterroot Valley, he believes now is the time to protect the river as a natural resource - before it is too late.

Along with floodplain regulations, which keep future development out of the river's floodways, building setbacks, which require structures to be a set distance from the high-water mark or bank, are another regulatory tool for protecting fish habitat and public safety.

Setbacks are a way to protect a public resource without discouraging growth, according to Mauer.

"Development is going to happen - people are going to want to live in this valley," Mauer said. "But people are going to push the envelope."

Setbacks allow a river to function as naturally as possible, added Chris Clancy, a local fisheries biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

On an untouched river bank, the natural dynamics operate flawlessly: cottonwood trees and shrubs shade the river, keeping the water temperatures level and the banks stable, while natural woody debris erodes into the river, making perfect fish habitat.

In addition, a healthy riparian buffer provides a vital home for insects and animals: wetlands and riparian areas cover only about one percent of the state, but these areas support half of Montana's plant species and one-third of its amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals of special concern, according to a 1997 U.S. Geological Survey report.

When homes abut the water's edge, however, that cycle is often broken, according to Clancy.

New homeowners, eager for a view of the river or creek they now reside next to, cut down trees, clear riparian vegetation, and often use bank stabilization techniques, or rip-rap, to keep erosion down (see Riprap p. 1).

"We're thinking of the effect people have when they're that close," said Clancy, pointing to a house 30 feet from the shore, its basement windows sandbagged against the river's potential swell. "Once they are there, it's hard to say, no, you can't rip-rap."

Although floodplain regulations are currently in place along the Bitterroot River, they are not enough, in Mauer's view.

Floodplain regs are based on elevation - and where the bank is high, they do little to protect scenic value or riparian vegetation, Mauer said.

"You can hang that (house) right over the edge," he said.

County floodplain laws also do not apply to the streams and creeks that feed the Bitterroot and serve as vital spawning streams for fish populations, according to Clancy.

"The issue is even more severe on the creeks - but not as obvious," Clancy said. "The river, in some ways, is much better protected than the tributaries."

Other Montana counties have already jumped on the setback issue, as they tackle the effects of double-digit growth and the skyrocketing value of riverfront property.

In March, Gallatin County commissioners approved 300-foot setbacks for a handful of major rivers, including the East and West Gallatin, Madison, Jefferson and Missouri rivers.

The commission also instituted 150-foot setbacks from creeks and streams not specifically designated under the 300-foot rule.

The regulation only applies to lots split off under the subdivision process - not existing ones, and the law excludes structures used for agricultural purposes, according to Gallatin County Planning Director Jennifer Madgic.

"Folks have assumed it was across the board - it just applies to newly created lots," Madgic said in a telephone interview Monday. "That created a lot of confusion and controversy for a couple days."

Gallatin County's setback regulations will complement current floodplain laws by further protecting riparian vegetation and water quality, Madgic said.

"The floodplain regulations are just one part of the story," she said. "They cover some public health issues, but setbacks become important when you have rivers with high banks."

Madgic, who has served in the Gallatin County Planning Department for eight years, and as director for three, believes that counties are starting to realize that rivers and streams are resources that will not survive intact under the brunt of record growth without additional protections.

"It's long overdue," Madgic said. "Other counties have been adopting similar, if not more stringent, setbacks. We were actually a little behind on the issue."

Setbacks also came before the state Legislature two months ago, but met with little success.

Senate Bill 173 would have instituted setbacks on all of Montana's 177,000 miles of streams and rivers - but the bill never made it out of the Senate.

Sen. Rick Laible, R-Victor, who voted against the proposed bill, said that setbacks should come from Ravalli County officials, not from Helena - and that they should vary according to the riverbank's topography.

"I think (setbacks) ought to be part of local control," Laible said. "We need to let our county come up with ordinances and give planners capability to make adjustments."

But setbacks are needed, Laible said - to protect public safety in case of flooding, and to protect the river.

"For those who want to build right to the bank, we should have the right to say, no, you can't do that," Laible said. "Our rivers belong to all of us - no one should be building within 250 feet of the Bitterroot River."

Mauer agrees that the county is the appropriate place to protect the valley's water resources - and that's what he intends to work on in the near future.

A handful of volunteers and agency representatives intend to map the river and stream corridors in the coming year to calculate adequate setbacks - as the riverbank varies, the setbacks would also vary to take into account the natural topography, he said.

The map could then be used to draft proposed county regulations, according to Mauer.

Without such streamside protections, the valley will gradually lose an important recreational and economic resource for many Bitterroot businesses - the goose that lays the golden egg, so to speak.

"The river brings a lot into the local economy," said Eddie Olwell, a Stevensville guide with a friendly smile and a hat bristling with flies. "There's secondary value to all the businesses in the valley."

Keeping the river pristine is part of that economic picture, in Olwell's view.

"A lot of (visitors) are coming from crowded areas," Olwell said."They're expecting to float a pristine river.

We're not trying to stop development - just reduce its impacts."

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