Barrasso took office June 25, filling the seat left open by the death of U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, who introduced the Snake Headwaters Legacy Act of 2007. At the breakfast meeting held in the Wort Hotel, paddler and valley resident Aaron Pruzan encouraged Barrasso to “pick up that torch” once carried by Thomas and to help pass the intact bill.

“I think it is really important to this business community, and the way the package is put together it doesn’t really work if you take pieces away,” he said. To help explain the issue, Pruzan offered to take Barrasso down the river to see it.

Barrasso was in the midst of a multi-town tour of the state, getting feedback from constituents. During the Jackson meeting he also fielded questions about immigration, the war in Iraq, and the Wyoming Range.

Thomas introduced the Snake Headwaters Legacy Act of 2007, shortly before his death in early June. It would protect the “outstanding remarkable values” of 443 miles on 14 streams from degraded water quality and dam building. Protection does not impact private property rights and uses or water rights. Those streams in the bill include the North and South and mainstem Buffalo Forks, Blackrock Creek, Pacific Creek, Granite Creek, Shoal Creek, Cliff Creek, Willow Creek, and segments of the Gros Ventre Hoback, Lewis and Snake rivers.

Barrasso told supporters of the bill he needed to understand the reasons behind the individual designations for each river segment before he would feel comfortable carrying the bill in Congress.

“Different parts are designated differently; some are recreational rivers, some are wild rivers and some are scenic rivers,” he said. “Those are things I can’t say, ‘Yes, I completely support’ because I don’t know the specifics.”

The senator also said he needed to consider the wishes of people in Lincoln and Sublette counties before committing to back wild and scenic designation for tributaries there.

“The Lincoln County commissioners and the Sublette County commissioners wrote strong letters against designation in their counties,” he said. “I have been talking to Senator Enzi about how to pass it but I need to see what people downstream think too.”

Valley fly-fishing ambassador Jack Dennis told Barrasso that Lincoln and Sublette counties don’t rely on tourism as much as Teton County and their opposition should not be taken too seriously. In May Dennis testified on behalf of the bill in front of the Senate’s Energy Committee at the request of Thomas.

“The only thing that hasn’t changed in Teton County is the parks – everything has changed, for good or for bad,” he said. “I want to be able to say the rivers will remain the same forever and ever, just like the parks.”

Dennis challenged Barrasso to pass the bill as a tribute to Thomas, discounting a recent decision to name the new Moose visitor center after the late senator.

“[Craig Thomas] would be the first person to laugh that they are naming a building after him,” Dennis said. “This was a man who ran the farm bureau, an ag man, and he came around to appreciate the importance of the parks. He needs a legacy more than just a building.”

After the meeting, Barrasso said in an interview he understood the importance of the bill and supported the concept but reiterated his need to learn more about it before trying to push it through the Senate.

“There are areas that are so pristine that they need to be protected long-term and the headwaters of the Snake is one of those,” he said. “[The bill] is well thought out but I need to understand this better.”