2020 Field Update

2020 in the Clark Fork Watershed: Cleaner, healthier, and more resilient — thanks to you No surprise: the pandemic turned things upside down in the Clark Fork watershed in 2020. But ultimately, it did nothing to alter stream restoration opportunities or ongoing ecological challenges. So our work carried on. And…

Young citizen scientists make their mark

In the summer of 2018 Clark Fork Coalition (CFC) partnered with the Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) and National Wildlife Federation (NWF) on a pilot program to train middle school kids to be citizen scientists in the Lolo National Forest. "A citizen science project is any activity where volunteers (a person…

Beavers – Nuisances or Watershed Heroes?

For CFC's inaugural Beaver Month we chatted with Andrew Jakes, Regional Wildlife Biologist for National Wildlife Federation about the unsung bucktooth heroes of the watershed – the beaver. Why are beavers considered ecosystem engineers? Beavers aren’t just considered ecosystem engineers…beavers are THE quintessential ecosystem engineer! They change a landscape like no other species in…

Superfund cleanup: It’s Working

Is Superfund cleanup of mining wastes in the Clark Fork making a difference? Yes! At least it is in terms of total amounts of copper and arsenic. And that’s especially good news because both are toxic: copper is extremely bad for fish, and arsenic is poisonous for people. According to…

No Roads = New Habitat for Native Trout

Things are looking up for cutties and bull trout in the Lolo Creek watershed! In 2009 the Lolo National Forest acquired over 32 sections of former Plum Creek Timber land in Upper Lolo Creek through the Montana Legacy Project. The East Fork of Lolo Creek is home to native cutthroat…

They Came, They Spawned, They…?

True to its name, Modesty Creek is not giving up its secrets. Not yet, anyway. Recently reconnected to the mainstem Clark Fork River in southwest Montana, this small spring creek is still settling into its new digs after spending the last 115 years in an irrigation ditch. Within a month…

Recognizing the Rare Moment

Scan the Clark Fork watershed on any gorgeous day and you’ll see thousands of anglers, rafters, tubers, birders, hikers, and others in, on, and around the water. Zoom in and you’ll hear exultation at a big brown on the line, exasperation at another lost fly, laughter over a shared, river-cold…

Remove the toxins. Restore the river.

We’re on the cusp of turning a wasteland back into a waterway at the old Smurfit-Stone Mill Site. Thirty years ago, the Clark Fork Coalition was founded by a group of citizens concerned about pollution from a pulp and paper mill just west of Missoula. We asked the state to…

If You Build It, They Will Come

Rebuilding Modesty Creek creates new, improved habitat for fish and wildlife in the Upper Clark Fork Imagine if you couldn't use the highway to travel to your favorite lake. Or to access your favorite grocery store. Or to visit your family in a nearby town. Bummer, right? That's probably how…

Halfway to Healing at Dry Cottonwood Creek Ranch

Update: In 2021, a local Montana ranching family bought the Dry Cottonwood Creek Ranch. Proceeds from the sale were returned to the Natural Resource Damage Program’s restoration fund. Conservation and recreational easements were put in place with the sale and we established the Dry Cottonwood Creek Field Center as an…