Clark Fork Coalition Fall volunteer opportunities

Fall field season is here...

Help us squeeze in the last few projects of the season! We need volunteers to assist with cleanups, fall plantings, and getting kids excited about the river. So bundle up and come enjoy the changing colors and crisp air while working to protect Missoula's favorite river!

1) Reserve St River Cleanup:
Friday, October 14th:1-3pm and/or 3-5pm
Help remove tons of trash from the floodplain near the Reserve St bridge during this unique river cleanup. This is CFC's 4th year of partnering with the Water Quality District and the Poverello Center to remove abandoned encampments from along the river. We need lots of hands for this event... last year, volunteers cleaned up over 3 tons of trash! Contact Katie to learn more or to sign up!

2) Dry Cottonwood Creek Restoration Workday: 
Saturday, October 15th: 7am-3pm
We're looking for 2 or 3 volunteers to help put the finishing touches on a large-scale restoration project on the Clark Fork Coalition's ranch property near Deer Lodge. Volunteers will be planting willows and other native riparian vegetation. Transportation from Missoula provided!

3) Volunteer Educators:
2016/2017 School Year
It's back to school time! Throughout the school year, we'll be looking for help with teaching watershed science to kiddos in Missoula and beyond. Contact Katie to learn more about how you can help!

To get involved, contact Katie at katie@clarkfork.org or (406) 542-0539 ext. 212. If you haven't done so already, please fill out a volunteer application. 

(Pictures and info were copied from an email)

Fishing for Weeds - U of M Ecological Restoration students asking the public for help!

Artificial pond at the Rock Creek Confluence property 

The University of Montana's Ecological Restoration Program is holding a big volunteer event this Saturday to benefit the property at the confluence of Rock Creek and the Clark Fork.  Read the history of the property from this old post.

The work will focus on a weed pull and some trial building.  The fun will include:

• A fly casting competition
• Food
• Beverages
• A live band!

If you were shy about attending a volunteer event in the past, this is not one to be missed!

This event starts at 9:00 am Sat. April 25th.

Those interested in volunteering should RSVP to fishingforweeds2015@gmail.com. Volunteers should bring work attire and a fly rod if they plan to participate in the casting competition.

For more information call Cara Nelson, UM ecological restoration program director, at 406-243-6066 or email cara.nelson@umontana.edu.

Clark Fork River Spring Cleaning Schedule

Get your feet wet for clean water! Temps are warming, streams are rising, and soon you'll be spending all your spare moments blissfully enjoying the river. Let's prepare for a summer of water recreation by cleaning up our favorite waterway. The Clark Fork Coalition is gearing up for an action-packed spring and we need your help! Check out our upcoming volunteer opportunities: Reserve Street Clean Up: April 10th 8:30am-1:00pm (lunch provided) Join CFC, the Poverello Center, and the Missoula Water Quality District to clean up trash under the Reserve Street bridge. This stretch of river has some unique needs associated with temporary camps along the river. Must be 18 years or older to participate. We will need 12 volunteers for this event. Annual River Clean Up: April 18th Times vary (lunch provided) Help CFC host Missoula's most popular volunteer event! We need help with set-up, registration, serving lunch, and helping things run smoothly throughout the day. Great opportunity to get involved behind the scenes of a community-wide river celebration. Contact Katie for more info on specific jobs and time slots. We will need 15+ volunteers for this event. Snowpack Monitoring: March 28th and April 25th All day Help predict spring and summer stream flows by monitoring Montana's snowpack! This is a full-day adventure in wintry conditions. You'll gain experience in snowpack data collection and enjoy a beautiful hike in the Sapphire Mountains. No experience required; snowshoes provided. Limited to 10 volunteers per outing. ~~~~~ To volunteer at any or all of these events contact Katie at katie@clarkfork.org or (406) 542-0539, x212. If you haven't done so already, please fill out a volunteer application. Have questions? Get in touch! Thank you for helping the river! Want to do even more for our rivers? BECOME A MEMBER TODAY and help keep our watershed clean, healthy, and whole!

Volunteer season begins!

Another great volunteer opportunity!

It may be the start of the serious fishing season, but it is also the start of volunteer season.  I'm about to call out our community, and I hope to be proved wrong.

For the past decade, I have put together volunteer events for various conservation organizations as a student and employee. I have also attended countless events because they are fun and a great way to meet people and network.  Over the years, I have tried again and again to tap into the fly fishing community for volunteers and have always been severely disappointed.  For the most part, fly fishers don't volunteer for projects that directly help and improve the streams that they love and use.  NOT COOL!

If you truly love the fish and everything that comes with them, get off your lazy ass and help out. There are no shortage of opportunities, especially this time of year.  It's not about being righteous, it's about having fun, meeting really cool people, and contributing to the systems that give so much to us.

Do it!

Bitterroot Water Forum - fishy news from the 'Root

Break out your day-planners, we have some exciting events on the near horizon that you will not want to miss. THIS THURSDAY, Chris Clancy of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, (and of BRWF board member fame), will present at the Bitterroot Trout Unlimited meeting. Chris will touch on: fish populations West Fork Bitterroot angler use survey angler induced cutthroat mortality, cutthroat identification update on the Supply Ditch diversion Veteran's Bridge stabilization problem excavators in the river, and more. He will also discuss implications of the County Commissioners recent decision on building in the flood fringe. Catch Chris and his talk, "The Bitterroot River: Great Fishing, but Growing Challenges," at the Bitterroot Trout Unlimited Meeting this Thursday February, 19 at 7:00 pm at the Hamilton Elks Lodge, 203 State St in Hamilton. The public is invited to attend, and there is no charge for admission. Hope to see you there! The 2015 Fly Fishing Film Tour is rapidly making its way toward the Bitterroot! Join us Saturday, February 28 at 11:00 AM at the Pharaohplex Theater in Corvallis to see this awesome collection of films. Tickets can be purchased in advance here, or in the BRWF office for $12. They will be $13 at the door on the day of. Proceeds from the event will benefit BRWF! Thanks to Eddie Olwell of Fishs Eddy O Outfitters for bringing this great event to the Bitterroot and donating proceeds to BRWF! Thanks to all who made our night at Bitterroot Brewing a success! Between the awesome show put on by Malarkey, new 155 North members, good beer and good company, our fundraiser was a huge hit! Thank you to everyone who donated, swung buy, bid on silent auction items, or any combination of those. There are few things more fun than being able to gather together and celebrate clean water. Also, don't forget to claim your silent auction items! If you haven't popped into the office yet, give us a call at 375-2272 to arrange a time for pick up (or drop off). Curious about the lack of snow? This has been an interesting winter in terms of snow and temperature here in the Bitterroot. If you want to stay up to date with data from the National Water and Climate Center, be sure to visit their site, where you can explore current reports on snow water equivalents and daily data from SNOTEL monitoring sites. Best, Heather Barber Executive Director Get updates from BRWF. Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Bitter Root Water Forum | PO Box 1247 Hamilton, MT | 406.375.2272 | www.brwaterforum.org

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Bitter Root Water Forum PO Box 1247 Hamilton, Montana 59840 US

Exciting volunteer opportunity with the Clark Fork Coalition

Get off your ass and help the rivers we use and love!

Stream restoration volunteer event tomorrow Sat. April, 26 in the Bitterroot Valley

The Bitterroot Waster Forum is holding a volunteer event to assist with revegetation efforts on Doran Creek in the Bitterroot Valley.

FROM THEIR WEBSITE:

April 26th BRWF will be hosting phase one of our new restoration project at Doran Creek, a willow cutting event. Phase two we will be planting these willows to increase shade and reduce sediment on this tributary of Cameron Creek and will take place on May 10th.

 When: Saturday, April 26th from 10:30am to 4:00pm

*There will be limited parking space on site─ we will meet at 9:30 am at the Safeway in Hamilton (101 E. Main St) to run a carpool.

**If you can't make it to the carpool, call the BRWF office for directions. What to bring: Please wear sturdy shoes, dress appropriately (layers), and bring water. Let us know if you can bring loppers or gardening shears.

Lunch will be provided by BRWF.

 Please RSVP by calling 406.375.2272 or e-mailing katie.brwf@gmail.com

Two great Missoula area volunteer events in one day!

For the aquatic crowd, the 2014 Clark Fork River Cleanup

For more info, to volunteer, or to become a team leader for the Clark Fork Cleanup please email Liz Underwood at liz@clarkfork.org.
Sponsors interested in participating in this high profile event should cal  Jill at 406-542-0539, ext. 206.

And for the terrestrial folks, Mount Sentinel and M trail maintenance/weed pull 

Food and coffee is provided for volunteers
Love the M trail but can't volunteer? Donate any amount at MTrail.org.

For more info contact: marilyn.marler@umontana.edu

This is also a great opportunity to buy some great native plants for your garden from the University of Montana Society for Ecological Restoration!

To volunteer for this event, just go the the entrance to the M trail at 9am or so. 

RBM goes volunteering with Montana FWP

I love to volunteer for events, especially if it involves digging around in the river on a beautiful morning for the benefit of trout.  Today, I was part of a small crew assisting Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks with some maintenance on an important local fish ladder.

Marshall Creek fish ladder

Quick Background Bullet-points:  

• Marshall Creek is an important spawning tributary for cutthroat and rainbow trout that reside in the Clark Fork River.
• The creek comes out of the mountains and goes underneath the highway through a large concrete culvert to reach its mouth at the Clark Fork River.  The outlet of the culvert used to be perched way up above the Clark Fork.  Ladd Knotek of MTFWP said that trout attempting to spawn could not make it up into the culvert and into Marshall Creek. Mr. Knotek also mentioned that for a time, the stream was considered a pure strain cutthroat stream due to this disconnection.  In 1997 the Clark Fork experienced a major spring runoff and, due to the high gage height of the river, the distance to the culvert was breached by some rainbow trout.  Rainbow genetics showed up in the local population of cutts.  This made the stream a candidate for the ladder and a re-connection to the rest of the system.   
• In 2003 the fish ladder was built "basically by hand" due to difficulties posed by the location.
• Biological monitoring of Marshall Creek since the installation of the ladder has shown that it is very effective and that it is heavily used. 
• The ladder was originally armored with a bunch of angular rocks on that leading edge.  Most of the reinforcement has washed away over the years along with the rocks which provide the structure for the bottom pool.  These rocks also hold an important metal baffle in place.    

When the rainbow and cutts are spawning, the level of the Clark Fork usually comes up to even (sometimes more than) with the pool at the bottom of both cascades.  The fish enter the ladder by jumping out of that pool and into the opening of the concrete structure in the right of this picture.  They then ascend a series of pools and turn the corner...

Once they're out of the ladder, they are at the height of the old culvert.

Once inside the culvert, the trout benefit from these baffles which were installed in the culvert to slow the flow of water and provide rest areas.

Will Schreck from MT FWP with 2 guys from Westslope TU hauling rock

Salmonfly (Pteronarcys californica) nymph 

re-built bottom pool

Our hard work put the ladder in good shape to provide our local trout access to their spawning grounds.  I hope they all get up there and get it on nasty!!

Volunteer season is here!  Stay tuned for more opportunities.  I will post them here.  There is a such thing as trout karma!

The Clark Fork Coalition in Missoula would like your help on Saturday, April 5