In keeping with the spirit of the Thanksgiving week, here are a couple of ongoing projects we’re thankful for, projects that have quietly been humming along in the background, not necessarily making national headlines, but getting solid work done nonetheless.
The Rock Creek | Clark Fork Confluence
Montana Trout Unlimited and the Five Valleys Land Trust have been quietly working on a project to preserve riparian zone surrounding the very final stretch of Rock Creek at it’s confluence with the Clark Fork.
From the Five Valleys Land Trust Rock Creek Confluence page…
Around the turn of the century, two young Italian immigrants, Paul and Anna Rinaldi, made their home at the confluence of the Clark Fork River and Rock Creek where they ranched the land. It was Paul’s job to walk the tracks of the new Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad each evening, lighting the kerosene lights that signaled the trains. Each morning he would walk the same tracks and put them out. Fast forward 100 years and the beautiful ranch at the mouth of Rock Creek was slated to be subdivided into 36 lots. Letters of protest poured into the Missoula County Commissioners office and the subdivision was delayed and eventually tabled. The property was put up for sale, and in 2012 with the help of thousands of supporters Five Valleys Land Trust purchased it to ensure that the mouth of the Rock Creek Valley will be protected forever.
In order to prepare the land for a large subdivision, bulldozers and backhoes had dug up much of the open meadow, and raised a gravel berm that blocked the view looking toward the canyon. The disturbed areas soon sprouted weeds and discharged sediment into the Clark Fork River. Since purchasing the property, Five Valleys has worked with a number of partners to restore it to its natural state. Thanks to the tireless work of Trout Unlimited, restoration of the gravel pit and removal of the weed-covered berm along Rock Creek Road will soon be underway. Volunteers are repairing fences, planting willows along the river, removing garbage, and eliminating wildlife hazards. Students from the University of Montana are preparing a thorough restoration assessment of the property through course curriculum in the Wildlands Restoration Program. Thanks to the generosity and conservation commitment of a neighboring landowner, 570 acres of habitat for elk and bighorn sheep on the hillsides above the Confluence property will be under conservation easement. And in May 2013, Five Valleys acquired and added 2 ½ miles of Clark Fork River frontage to the Confluence property, including beautiful cottonwood bottoms and the bed of the old Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad.
The TRCP’s Sportsmen’s Country Initiative
Kudos to the TRCP for continued focus on the critical importance of public lands; they posted a nifty blog reminder on the 19th – The Crown Jewels of Sportsmen’s Country are Mule Deer, Elk and Trout.
From river breaks to high mesas, and from sage coulees to semi-arid mountain ranges, America’s 245 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands are some of the best places to hunt and fish remaining on the planet. Sportsmen and women in the West depend on publicly-accessible, healthy BLM lands to produce quality big game, robust fisheries, and sustainable opportunities for recreation.
They go on to talk about some amazing places in the lower 48 – The Idaho High Divide, Oregon’s Beulah Wildlife Management Unit, the Deschutes, New Mexico’s Otero Mesa, Northwest Colorado and the Piceance Basic ‘mule deer factory’, and the Arkansas River Valley.
If you’ve not signed their Sportsmen Country petition drive supporting open access for BML public lands, please do so here.
