Upper Missouri breaks national monument and friends group Turn 20

Press release

The Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument and the monument’s friends group, the Friends of the Missouri Breaks Monument, will turn 20 years old in 2021.

Events to celebrate both birthdays will be held throughout the year.

The monument’s status as a Montana treasure is a testament to the efforts of all who helped create and protect the monument, said Joe Offer, the Friends’ executive director.

“The past 20 years have been filled with ups and downs for the monument, but it’s come through unscathed and remains one of Montana’s finest natural areas,” Offer said. “In 2021 we’re planning on celebrating the hard work that has made the monument what it is today.”

Jan. 17, the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument will observe the 20th anniversary of its creation by executive proclamation.

The monument, located on nearly 400,000 acres of public land surrounding 149 miles of the Wild and Scenic Missouri River, is home to many of Montana’s emblematic wildlife species and holds stories from central Montana’s history in every coulee.

The Friends of the Missouri Breaks Monument, the only nonprofit dedicated solely to protecting the monument, will turn 20 April 18.

To celebrate these milestones, the Friends will hold public events throughout the year. Each event will align with the Friends’ mission to protect and preserve the monument through advocacy, education and stewardship.

Beginning in mid-January, the Friends will host a series of virtual discussions open to the public with experts on the monument’s many facets.

In the early spring, the Friends will begin its on-the-ground stewardship work with a cottonwood planting event and continue throughout the season with volunteer events aimed at enhancing the monument’s recreational opportunities and environmental conditions.

Since its creation by President Bill Clinton in 2001, the monument has welcomed visitors from near and far, many of whom spend time and money in nearby communities. These visitors range from recreationalists who hike, hunt or float in the monument to history junkies stopping at the monument’s interpretive center in Fort Benton.

The monument’s status as a Montana treasure is a testament to the efforts of all who helped create and protect the monument, said Joe Offer, the Friends’ executive director.

For more information, visit the Friends’ website at http://www.missouribreaks.org or call 406-310-9572.