Simms to donate $50k to ongoing Yellowstone flood recovery

“Sales from special edition Watershed waders will help fund park recovery work

In early June 2022, floodwaters ravaged the northern tier of Yellowstone National Park, destroying roads and bridges and wreaking havoc on communities from Gardiner Mont, north through Paradise Valley and beyond the fishy little town of Livingston.

Torrential rain coupled with ill-timed snowmelt created the “perfect storm,” a once-in-500-years event, that reminded us that nature is almost always in charge. As we watched television news broadcasts of America’s signature national park succumbing to the whims of the weather, most of us assumed it would be years before the park could “recover” enough to be enjoyed by people again.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. With moonshot perseverance, the National Park Service worked around the clock, and, before summer was over, most of the human access lost during the floods was restored. Access to the Yellowstone through Paradise Valley was also restored, and by the end of summer, anglers were once again chasing big trout in what might by America’s signature coldwater fishery.

But the economic and environmental damage persisted, so people stepped up. Efforts were put into play to help local communities that depend heavily on the area’s rivers for their economic survival. Donations piled up for out-of-work fishing guides. PR campaigns pushed out the news that the rivers were going to be fine, and that fishing would continue once the waters subsided.

But, on the heels of a global pandemic, the Yellowstone floods amounted to an economic gut-punch for a region that depends so heavily on summer traffic to make ends meet financially. While the summer of 2022 wasn’t a complete loss, it surely tested the mettle of the regional community.”

The full article can be found here.

Photo Credit: Original Author

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