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Torrey Ritter the FWP Beaver Guy will visit Sue Pullman, Trudy Dawson, and Holly Harper’s project areas in the Cardwell area on Mar 4. He is coming from Missoula, so if other people around here want to hitch on this visit, maybe contact him and ask. torrey.ritter@mt.gov
I think the mod4 post is supposed to be “aha” moments from the mod4 materials that springboards from our mod3 post.
I didn’t have any aha moments, but module 4 did reinforce how cool it would be to have pre-identified & approved high country habitat for beaver so that when lowland conflict on the big rivers (Boulder & Jefferson) occurs, there is a place or places to transplant the beaver, ready to go.
Hello All, I have a sticky note that says “Feb 6-20 LTBBR course check-in TBD.” When is that going to be set? Please not a Thursday and not Valentine’s Day. I am romantically giving cow shots that day.
My project is multi-pronged, two with fairly controllable outcomes and one crap shoot.
1) The conifer mitigation is chainsaw work to increase water availability to grasses and water bodies. At a small scale it involves me and my chainsaw. At a large scale it is a grant-funded endeavor with a hired crew. Work in the summer will be determined by the fire conditions for saw work and vehicle access.
2) The construction of 7-10 BDAs in Cottonwood Creek is limited by permitting and manpower.
3) The eventual restoration of beaver to Cottonwood Creek will be determined by a site visit in March that will gauge suitability and advise goals for restoration work with beaver transplants in mind, and then the regulatory process and paperwork will be determined by the outcome of the EA decision in April. If the EA is not approved, the regulatory process is expensive, arduous, and possibly not worth the effort.
The timeline is uploaded, I think.
One of our large-scale projects has a desired end-goal of beaver restoration (Trudy and I have a lot of projects). The project areas is about ten acres along Cottonwood Creek on private ground. In general, there is less volume in Cottonwood Creek than in previous decades. Cottonwood Creek is a tributary to the Boulder River that flows into the Jefferson. There are small fish in the creek. Banks are incised within the 10 acres, and there are several areas that might benefit from a BDA. The areas has been logged but the conifers are getting more dense.
The creek bottom is rocky, so poking anything into the bottom will be difficult in most places. There are some willows around, but I think conifer limbs will comprise the bulk of any mitigating structure.
I’ve attached a link to a map that might not be in a format that anyone can open (KML), and a couple photos. The grey dotted line is a logging road. I am hoping some people with more experienced eyes than mine will come and give advice on how best to approach this project.
The economic impact of reduced water volume in river tributaries is difficult to pinpoint.
If anyone else has onX, here is a link. https://webmap.onxmaps.com/backcountry/map/query/45.987878,-111.981714,16.11/overview?link_id=01KEQG10D5Y6WGQHJTNYD0FVVZ&mode=trail
https://webmap.onxmaps.com/backcountry/share/content?share_id=01KEQDC7BRGGHTBNFZS19QHY1F
These are the coordinates of the pin in the screenshot 45.98469, -111.98241
My land experience in this area is as a former seasonal range worker for the USFS, mainly spraying weeds & fencing. Currently, I spend as many days as possible on my horse, ostensibly looking for errant cows on private, BLM, and USFS land. Too many waterways need attention.
I work with/for two others in the class and intend to be a chainsaw-wielding cheerleader in muck boots and grant-writer as needed.
Timing-wise, this class is aligning with the writing of the “Draft Boulder Watershed Restoration Plan,” and they are interested in including the course participation and any resultant projects in the plan, which is cool and might free up some resources for more projects within the boundaries of the plan.
Sari– nice website & thank you for the bonus willow info!
Hi Sari, Great to see you back in the area! I think I am replying to your post, but I have zero confidence that I’m doing this correctly. I live on McKeown these days in Cardwell (not on the river)– where are you on the Jeff?
It will be fun to learn more about the way you are approaching your land restoration with the archeology overlay. Very cool!
~Holly Harper
