Each boat camp along the Smith River has a latrine, as seen in this 2017 photo.

Each boat camp along the Smith River has a latrine, as seen in this 2017 photo.

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State officials propose installing a “SCAT machine” to dispose of human waste at the Smith River takeout as they implement new rules for floaters.

The Montana State Parks and Recreation Board in May adopted several new rules for floating the Smith River. Among them is a requirement that floaters collect and pack out human waste in approved commercial devices.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks this week released an environmental assessment on installation of a SCAT machine at the take out at Eden Bridge near Ulm. The machine is a dumping and cleaning station for portable toilets. Deciding against installing the machine would mean floaters would have to seek out other disposal methods, such as RV dump stations.

”The machine, through various cycles and washing nozzles, produces a semi-high pressure, high volume wash that removes the waste from the portable toilet, rinses the toilet inside and out, and slurries the waste into a septic system ready form,” according to the company’s website. “It then discharges the waste into the septic system and performs a self rinse cycle that leaves the machine ready for the next use.”

FWP is currently taking public comment on the assessment through Aug. 8. More information is available at fwp.mt.gov.

The project would include construction of a building to house the machine, a short access road and the installation of two 5,000-gallon holding tanks.

FWP spokesman Dave Hagengruber says the department is still working on which portable toilets will be approved and expects the board to pass additional rules once analysis and agency decisions are finalized. Floaters would not be charged a fee for use of the SCAT machine, he said.

About $600,000 was approved for the project and the assessment anticipates annual service and maintenance of about $29,000.

The human waste pack-out rules replace a latrine system maintained by the state. The 59-mile Smith River float includes dozens of boat camps along the way, which required staff to dig and maintain latrines. Officials, in proposing a pack-out rule, said some camps were running out of space to dig and that latrines could cause environmental and human health concerns. Officials say 1,200 pit toilets have been dug since the 1980s.

The Smith, offering a peaceful float through miles of limestone canyons, is Montana’s only permitted river. Over the last decade and a half, interest and use of the river has steadily climbed, with both the number of applicants for the permit lottery and the average group size of floating parties hitting records in recent years.

In May the board also passed rules making Camp Baker, the launch site near White Sulphur Springs, day-use only. That means camping will not be allowed, with the exception of Sept. 1-Nov. 30 for hunting season. Registration and boat camp selection will also occur over the phone, replacing an in-person system.

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Tom Kuglin is the deputy editor for the Lee Newspapers State Bureau. His coverage focuses on outdoors, recreation and natural resources.

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