Region 4 parks manager Roger Semler says the agency has closed the river until conditions improve. He says floaters and others have reported the Smith River is ice-covered and impassable in several 50- to 300-yard stretches.

The float season on the 59-mile long river begins April 1st. The FWP will notify the approximately 60 people who hold float permits for between April 1st and April 15th of the temporary closure. Semler says the agency will try to provide alternative float dates to those permit holders.

The Smith River begins near White Sulphur Springs and spills into the Missouri River near Ulm.