By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
The Bozeman-based Cottonwood Environmental Law Center has been handed another legal defeat in its string of failed lawsuits against Big Sky entities, this time in a dispute dating back to 2023 against the Yellowstone Club.
Cottonwood also lost multi-year lawsuits in July 2025 and December 2025, and was sanctioned by U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris in July.
On Thursday, Feb. 5, a jury found unanimously that the Yellowstone Club did not “discharge a pollutant to navigable waters from a point source,” as charged in Cottonwood’s July 2023 filing which stated, “Defendant Yellowstone Club is unlawfully impairing the water quality of the Gallatin River and its tributaries by discharging water pollution into the waters of the United States without a permit.” Trial began Feb. 3.
A Jan. 26 pre-trial court filing stated that YC does use “highly-treated” reclaimed wastewater to irrigate its golf course and a nearby 36-acre reforestation area. YC irrigates as authorized by Montana Department of Environmental Quality “after extensive scientific and environmental review,” according to a YC press release issued Feb. 6. YC does not hold a Clean Water Act discharge permit—it would not be relevant to its DEQ-approved landscape irrigation in which reclaimed wastewater does not reach surface waters, directly or indirectly, as found by the court.
“Use of recycled water for irrigation is a conservation‑focused approach designed to protect water quality and quantity, prevent impacts on surface waters, and responsibly reuse water in a semi‑arid region,” the YC release stated. “Many Montana municipalities directly discharge their treated wastewater into nearby rivers, but Big Sky has never done so, instead focusing on reuse practices.”
The court’s pre-trial filing states that most of the reclaimed water supply used for YC irrigation comes from the Big Sky community’s new, state-of-the-art Water Resource Recovery Facility, a recent $50 million investment aimed at protecting free-flowing waterways and bolstering Big Sky’s water supply for lawful uses such as snowmaking and large-scale irrigation. The WRRF accounts for roughly 80% of YC’s irrigation water, according to YC representatives, and the remaining 20% is reclaimed from YC’s wastewater treatment facility, which now treats water to the same “class A-1” level as Big Sky’s WRRF, YC representatives explained to EBS.
Rich Chandler, VP of environmental operations at Lone Mountain Land Company—a local affiliate of the YC—said the case was subject to years of “careful scrutiny” and the jury’s verdict reinforces confidence in Montana’s “rigorous” environmental standards and regulatory process.
“Long before this litigation, and consistently throughout it, we’ve had a dedicated team of professionals doing the right work, guided by science, regulatory oversight, and a deep respect for this landscape,” Chandler stated in the release. “The jury’s verdict confirms the effectiveness of our long‑standing approach to stewardship and careful environmental management.”
YC emphasizes that it adheres to state and federal environmental regulations, with systems and practices “reviewed repeatedly by regulators, engineers, and environmental professionals.”
On the contrary, Cottonwood claimed that YC “over irrigates its golf course such that Nitrogen pollution reaches the South Fork/West Fork of the Gallatin River” through sprinklers as point sources, and that “[t]he Gallatin River and its tributaries, including the South Fork/West Fork of the Gallatin River and Second Yellow Mule Creek have suffered from severe algae blooms for the last five years as a result of Defendant’s golf course management practices,” Cottonwood’s filing stated.
Before trial, Cottonwood asked the court the following: to declare, hold and adjudge that YC violated section 301 of the Clean Water Act; to prevent YC from polluting as alleged; to issue a moratorium on construction activities until YC enacts a new wastewater disposal plan; to order YC takes remedial actions for alleged environmental wrongdoing; to order YC to pay civil penalties for CWA violations; and to award Cottonwood with “reasonable litigation costs and expenses” for bringing the case to trial.
With the case dismissed, the court will pursue none of those outcomes.
“Cottonwood may have lost on paper, but we undoubtedly won for the river,” Cottonwood Executive Director John Meyer stated via email to EBS when asked for comment. He did not respond to a follow-up email asking for more detail.
The YC shared a statement paralleled by similar court decisions against Big Sky entities, which, over the past six years, have been forced to shoulder legal costs to defend against Cottonwood. The costs have burdened local water and sewer district ratepayers, and delayed—or potentially inhibited—environmental infrastructure that could protect the Gallatin River and its tributaries.
“With a series of Cottonwood legal efforts having been rejected, the Big Sky community hopes focus can return to shared priorities, including environmental stewardship and conservation investments,” the release stated.
