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Hello, Everyone,
Attached to this text is our tentative, subject to change Tailored-Timeline. I thought I would post it before our meeting on Wednesday. I will have a better update on Wednesday afternoon. We are meeting with Tim Lahey from the Butte FS office to go over the site on Wednesday morning. A huge THANK YOU to Sam for setting up this meeting, taking the time out of his busy schedule to be with us during Tim’s tour, and for spearheading the permit filing processes with the B-DNFS, MT-FWP, and the conservation district.
There don’t appear to be any aspens or willows at the site. I believe it is mostly alders, it’s hard to tell without their foliage, but looking at the alder cones, I think that’s what is here. Some of our willows are producing catkins aka pussy willows which is normal for this at this time of year, but I don’t see them in this area. There are 5-6 very old and very well constructed beaver dams, and that may be the reason there aren’t any aspens/willows. There are aspens/willows in the tributaries leading into this wetland and above and below this area. I would love to get FS permission to try to restore the vegetation that were here. I have walked on a few of the dams and am happy to report that they are holding water. There is one that is doing this very well, so I am optimistic that we can restore this wetland into what it was when the beaver were there. One cabin owner did say that he remembers, as a child, that it was fairly deep.
As for beavers, I would love to have them but I fear that they would be trapped because of the site being on public lands. Therefore, I think it’s best to wait for them to come back naturally. There was a small beaver family below Mullin Lake (aka the pond), but they disappeared when the causeway/dam was reconstructed. I am jealous of the private landowners who have water on their property. 😉
I look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday!
Judy
Hi, Holly,
This is wonderful news! Dave and I are very interested in attending and have reached out to Torrey. He’s away from his desk, but will return by March 1st, so we hope to hear from him soon! Fingers crossed!
Thank you so much for the invite!
Judy and Dave
Hi, Everyone!
Because my project is on forest service land, it will need to be no cost. I have been doing research to understand the history of the area we’d like to see restored, if we are allowed to. I posted photos in Module 2.
I did hear back from one of the cabin owners on Lake Mullen, and what he wrote is discouraging because of the human impact over the years. Here is what he said,
“Good afternoon Judy
I received your message last nite and did some thinking. I’ve been roaming around the hills at the cabin since I was old enough to walk. We used to get dropped off at the 9 mile, Homestake pass or Roosevelt Drive and hike to the cabin. I’ve even been to the headwaters of the North Fork of Little Pipestone Creek. It comes out of some rocks in the middle of a hillside. I don’t think there was much mining going on, mostly logging. There are some glory holes here and there are remenents of old logging wagons harnesses and yolks.
At the prospectors cabin a man named Oscar Blixt had the only working mine in the near area.He was a quiet man and never said much at one time his mine went in about 150 feet.
To my knowledge there were never any man made dams. At one time there were 3 beaver dams.The largest was straight out from the prospectors cabin.The second one was upstream and the smallest was downstream from the large dam.
According to Joan Shannon the pond at the cabin was just an over grown beaver dam.It was either her father or grandfather decided to enlarge it with some dynamite.
When we were small my uncle swam out to the center of the pond and could not touch bottom.I would guess the water was at least over 6 to 7 feet deep.
There was a saw mill at Oassis and another one half way between the Toll Mountain campground and the highway.
Over the years people would break the beaver dams and drain all the mud and silt down into the pond causing the pond to fill up.
I used to snow shoe with Mrs. Koch and her husband and she told me the wood cut up around the cabin was used in the mines in Butte and to fire the brick kilns down by the ZbarT.
I hope this information is useful and I would like to get involved in your project if you need any help.
Keep me posted
Thanks
Jim”I will continue to do more research and have sent Jim additional questions. I would love to reintroduce beavers to the area, but that would involve MTFWP, and I am not sure if the area can be protected from trapping.
There is so much to consider!
Hi Sari,
You add another dimension to restoration, soil. You mentioned areas that are void of vegetation. Do you know the history of your land and know what may have caused this? I try my best not to walk on the decomposers that appear in the spring. So many people think it’s gross until they learn decomposers’ importance. They are just a part of the microbiota community!
I am also intrigued by your cultural awareness and would love to know more about what you have discovered.
Remember everyone, Don’t step on the decomposers! 😉
Judy
Hi, Trudy,
Your Zuni Bowl is impressive! I have a few questions that I hope you don’t. mind answering. When did you build it and have you seen it work? What were your observations? Are there other places for them that you are considering? How long did it take you to build the one in the picture?
Thank you, Judy
Thank you for letting me know that my attachments can’t be seen. I have converted them into JPEGS. Keeping my fingers crossed this works!
Hello, Everyone!
Module 2 certainly has my head spinning with so many possibilities! The videos are a big help, and I would love to have a field day to visit these areas. Would that be possible, Sam? I also have a question about the vegetation used. With us being in drought conditions, should we use vegetation that requires the least amount of water, cottonwoods vs willows vs alders?
The area that I would like to restore is in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest so we will need to get their approval. I visited the area yesterday and took these photos.
Photo #0533 shows one of the dams that was built. I have requested information on the area from a cabin owner on the pond (see photo posted in discussion board #1) who remembers the area as a child. He is pretty excited for our idea of restoring the area. I have also contacted the local museum in Whitehall to see if they have any information. Because they are closed for the season, I am not sure if I will hear from them soon.
Photo 0532 shows the whole area. It’s pretty big with two drainages at the top.
Photo 0534 shows the North Fork of the Little Pipestone Creek and the vegetation around it as it meanders through weakened areas of the dams. It is incised but with little bank erosion. During high snow levels, the area does get marshy.
Photo 0535 shows more of the vegetation such as willows and alders.
Mullin Lake and the creek below it does support fish and macroinvertebrates. Mullin Lake also has muskrats and waterfowl such as mallards and a blue heron. I have not seen fish in the upper portion that I would like to restore.
One thought I have for restoring this area to collect water for a pond is to build a variation of the One Rock Dam where the creek enters a wooded area before entering the pond below which is called Mullin Lake. The dam would have to be higher than the existing dams unless they were destroyed which isn’t feasible. There is a lot of blowdown around the area that could be used instead of rocks. Being in the Boulder Batholith, there are plenty of rocks too.
I look forward to reading your ideas and projects. In the meantime, think snow, pray for snow, but enjoy the nice weather!
Judy
Hi, Sari,
Thank you so much for your interest. Sam is in the process of talking with the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest folks, so we are keeping our fingers crossed. In the meantime, I am researching the area. I spoke to one of the cabin owners on the pond who remembers that area as a child. I am hoping to collect more information to support our cause. I will definitely let you know how things are going.
Judy
Hello, Everyone!
Happy New Year to all of you! We apologize for being late in completing this assignment. We are Dave and Judy Boyle, and we live in the Toll Mountain/Upper Rader Creek area west of Whitehall in the Boulder Batholith. We do not have surface water flowing through our property. However, we do have signs of past surface water. Our focus is to restore an area on Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest land. I have included an attachment so you are able to see the area which is on the North Fork of the Little Pipestone Creek near its headwaters in a beautiful drainage. It is a 1 tributary to the Jefferson River.
The human history of the area does include indigenous visitors for hunting. Later, mining and logging practices took place. Below the area is a group of privately owned cabin on FS leased land around Mullin Lake which, from my understanding, was part of the logging operation. Above the pond and in our area of concentration, are a series of dams. I am presently doing research to find out the exact history of the area and if those dams are man-made or beaver-made. The creek meanders through the series of dams.
During the 19 Mile Fire and Blacktail Fire, the helicopters used this pond for water.
The year that we were graced with much snow (2019?), the forest service closed the road from the junction of the FS240 road to the lake because they were afraid the integrity of the causeway on the lake was unsafe and would flood Toll Mountain Campground. The owners of the cabins contracted Jeffrey’s Construction to rebuild the causeway to FS specifications. During this time, a family of beavers began building a lodge below the lake on the creek. Sadly, the beavers have disappeared.
Ultimately, we would like permission from the FS, etc. to open the dams to allow more water to collect, leaving and possibly building up the last dam as a bank to eventually become a pond. I was speaking with one of the cabin owners who remembers, as a child, that the area was once a pond. We would love to restore this pond to improve habitat for mammals, birds, and fish along with a second source of water for firefighting efforts. The cabin owner was very excited to hear about this.
One last note…if anyone needs help with the physical work of your project, I would be happy to help!
