Building Social Capital Through River Care
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| fall 2012 | fall your voice water for clean your matt vincent Building Social Capital through River Care e know you’re seeing it first-hand: the Clark Fork River is on the rebound, and the vital signs of many of its feeder creeks and streams are growing stronger every day. Maybe you were fortunate enough to experience W the evidence of cleaner water and healthier stream corridors during your excursions this summer, whether it was landing a brilliantly colored cutthroat or watching a moose munch on riparian plants. continued page 4 IN DEPTH PROTECT THE ORDER inside FEATURE CLARK FORK LOCAL BEEF — page 4 — page 10 — page 18 SINCE 1985 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sarah Bates President Cindy Poett Vice President Stuart Goldberg Secretary Tim Polich Treasurer Nick Babson Missoula, MT John Beighle Missoula, MT Trent Baker Missoula, MT Jim Flynn Anaconda, MT Cameron Lawrence Missoula, MT S S Paul Moseley Missoula, MT RRENT U Paul Roos Lincoln, MT C 2 Traci Sylte Missoula, MT Beth Schenk Missoula, MT Germaine White St. Ignatius, MT FALL 2012 FALL STAFF Jill Alban Communications Manager Chris Brick, PhD Science Director Andy Fischer Project Manager Katie Gaut Monitoring & GIS Analyst Barbara Hall Legal Director Karen Knudsen Executive Director Ellie Long AmeriCorps Intern Will McDowell Stream Restoration Director OFFICE Brianna Randall Water Policy Director 140 S. 4th W., Unit #1 • Missoula, MT 59801 mail: PO Box 7593 • Missoula, MT 59807 Maggie Schmidt Ranch Foreman T 406 542 0539 | F 406 542 5632 Liz Underwood Development Associate www.clarkfork.org my-design.net | Alicia Vanderheiden Development Director Currents is a quarterly publication of the Clark Fork Coalition, a non-profit organization TECHNICAL ADVISORS dedicated to protecting and restoring the Clark Matt Clifford, Esq. Fork watershed. Jim Kuipers, P.E. Printed on paper that is FSC-certified and contains Vicki Watson, PhD design = joanna yardley 30% recycled content. “That’s a good little dam you’ve got there.” hose are hardly words you’d expect to boulder-studded Forest Service roads, and hear directed at a conservation group in a stunning display of wildflowers in lush T the West, but the Clark Fork Coalition is mountain meadows. We also had a remarkable, far from an average conservation organization. hands-on opportunity to open the headgate at Racetrack Dam and release water downstream John Connors, who inspects dams as part of into the creek. his work as an engineer with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and We heard plain talk about the challenges the Conservation, shared this assessment recently Coalition faces in our efforts to create win-win with Coalition staff and board members solutions for agriculture and fish in the Upper gathered for a tour at Racetrack Lake. This Clark Fork Valley, and we were lucky enough to lake forms the headwaters of one of the participate in a unique conversation with our Clark Fork River’s most important tributaries, neighbors who irrigate off of Racetrack Creek. Racetrack Creek. It was a valuable day for all of us, and a So just how and why did the Coalition become milestone for the organization. I love being a dam owner? After years of research and part of a conservation group that will do outreach, the Coalition brokered an innovative, whatever it takes to restore a living river— FALL 2012 FALL groundbreaking water transaction with a local whether by removing a dam like Milltown that ranching family—resulting in the ownership of needs to go, or buying and operating a dam in Racetrack Dam as well as storage rights to about order to put more water back into the creek. 3 two-thirds of the water in Racetrack Lake. C Keep listening for more news about this “good U RRENT This purchase allows us to release water to little dam,” and all the other good work of the Racetrack Creek and the Upper Clark Fork River Clark Fork Coalition. S during critical dry periods in late summer and early fall, just when our streams need it the most. Our visit to Racetrack Lake included adventurous biking and four-wheeling on Sarah Bates | CFC Board President CFC Board & Staff from L-R: Cindy Poett, Karen Knudsen, Sarah Bates, Alicia Vanderheiden, Chris Brick, Barbara Hall in -depth feature continued from page 1 At the Clark Fork Coalition, we track and measure To expand this “circle of care,” the Coalition is the positive changes in a number of ways: strategically retooling its education and outreach program. What this effort amounts to is a ramping • Milltown Dam and the toxic threat of up and revamping of traditional favorites and mining waste stacked behind it have the launching of several new initiatives. Bundled been removed, creating a cleaner and S S together, these offerings aim to catalyze leadership better connected river system; in conservation, provide essential skills in river care, RRENT U • more streams are getting the and build community cohesion through active C 4 water they need to maintain vital water stewardship. connections to mainstem rivers; As we implement, grow, and refine this package of headwater creeks that were formerly • programs, we are ever-eager for feedback and ideas FALL 2012 FALL ailing are now clean and cold enough to from you, our members. What type of water-related support aquatic insects and native trout; events, workshops, tours, or talks appeal to you? • large-scale Superfund cleanup Do you know of potential partners or audiences projects to eliminate mining pollution we should reach out to? How can we better serve are underway; residents of the watershed? Can you help us spread • environmental stewardship practices the word? Please check out the offerings below are taking root; or at www.clarkfork.org, and contact us at • partnerships in stream restoration are [email protected] to let us know how the Coalition gelling; can best engage you and your networks in the cause for clean water. Meanwhile, we hope to see you at • innovative water management one of our events very soon! practices are gaining popularity; • a restoration economy is hitting stride. CATALYZING One of the most important measures of progress, of YOUTH LEADERSHIP course, is that more people than ever are embracing Affinity Float: Every July, we host dozens of local the vision of a clean, healthy, and whole watershed, youngsters from children’s shelters and youth homes and are participating in—and supporting—the for our annual float down Alberton Gorge on the heavy lifting required to get there. We like to think Clark Fork. Flip ahead to pages 16-17 to see photos of it as a culture of watershed stewardship in the from our 2012 event—a day of good, wet, fun. making—one that will drive ecological and socio- economic revitalization on a scale that matters and Envirothon: The Coalition trains students from in a way that endures. Philipsburg High School on how to solve complex gatherings focusing on water-related topics of importance and interest in the Clark Fork watershed. And, thanks to a series of generous sponsors from our local business community, we’ve been able to offer giveaways, prizes, free food, and more. “Working with Water” Workshop: The Coalition has designed a workshop to help landowners and irrigation districts learn the nuts- environmental issues facing rivers, forests, soils, and-bolts of win-win flow restoration contracts that and wildlife in order to compete in a statewide provide incentives and revenue for waters users to Envirothon Competition. re-water streams that run dry. Hands on the Ranch: Our Hands on the CREATING Ranch program offers high school students a unique COMMUNITY COHESION opportunity to assess stream health and design Clark Fork River Cleanup: The Coalition’s restoration solutions on working lands—right in their Annual Clark Fork River Cleanup brings together 700 own backyard. Eight to ten senior students are then community members, school clubs, civic groups, and selected to participate in the Restoration Certification business associations to pick up thousands of pounds Program, an advanced training program that gives of trash that accumulate along 15 miles of urban students marketable job skills and a small stipend. riverbanks in Missoula. Mark your calendars: the Stormdrain Stenciling: Storm drains in next River Cleanup will take place on Saturday, 2012 FALL Missoula empty directly into the river, a stream, or April 20, 2013. our drinking water aquifer. The Coalition works with Restoration Workdays: We regularly host local schools and community volunteers to paint 5 workdays for students, citizens and civic groups C drains with reminders to keep pollutants out of these U across the Clark Fork basin. Workdays serve as RRENT conduits to our irreplaceable waters. hands-on learning sessions for participants to learn S S PROVIDING SKILLS & about everything from local natural history and EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE river ecology to the restoration and cleanup efforts underway in our communities. Hazardous Waste Certification Course: Large-scale Superfund cleanups and restoration Superfund Supper Club: The ambitious and projects are ramping up in the Upper Clark Fork, and important 10-year Superfund cleanup project of that means jobs. The Coalition is organizing and co- mining wastes in the Upper Clark Fork will impact hosting courses in hazardous materials handling to over 100 ranchers and private landowners. The give local residents the skills and certification required Coalition created a Superfund Supper Club as an by OSHA for securing jobs in ecological remediation. informal way to gather with other landowners to air concerns and ideas, and share notes on cleanup. œ Living Near Water: We collaborate with planners, conservation districts, and organizations of realtors to organize and teach “Living Near Friday, Sept. 28 Water” continuing education courses throughout THE KIDS the Clark Fork basin, including Missoula, Ravalli, RIVER EXPO & CLEANUP We’re thrilled to be bringing back a long- Deer Lodge, Granite, and Mineral Counties.