 |
Blackfoot Challenge
County: Granite, Lewis and Clark, Missoula, Powell
Sub-Major Basin: Upper Clark Fork
Affected Watershed: Blackfoot
Watershed Description: The Blackfoot Watershed consists of 1.5 million acres including the 132 mile-long Blackfoot River, its tributaries and adjacent lands. It lies within portions of four counties, seven communities, and some 2,500 households. Ownership is divided between public land (60%), corporate timber holdings (20%), and private landowners (20%). The Blackfoot River flows from its headwaters atop the Continental Divide at Rogers Pass to merge with the Clark Fork River just east of Missoula, Montana. The Blackfoot River runs through some of the most productive fish and wildlife habitat in the Northern Rocky Mountains. The valley shelters glaciated wetlands, lush riparian areas and blue ribbon trout streams. Stunning mountain ranges, National Forests and the Bob Marshall and Scapegoat Wilderness areas define the valley. The ranchers who manage the valley floor are stewards of prairie wetland complexes and the rural lifestyle that has maintained this rich intact landscape.
|
|
Why was a watershed effort begun? Although its charter dates to 1993, Blackfoot landowners have played an instrumental stewardship role since the late 1980s. A perceived collision course between resource development and resource protection led to the formation of the Blackfoot Challenge. The group seeks common ground and offers a forum for give-and-take discussion on issues facing the watershed from ridge to ridge.
|
|
Group Accomplishments: The challenge has secured the trust of local landowners through communication, cooperation and consensus building. In 2005/2006, the Blackfoot Challenge:
Was selected as of seven recipients nation-wide from a pool of over eleven hundred to receive the Innovations in American Government Award from the Ash Institute and the Harvard Business School.
Reduction of twelve reported and verified grizzly contacts in 2005 to seven in 2006
No grizzly bears trapped for management purposes, mortalities, or livestock conflicts in 2006
Removed 306 livestock carcasses from ranches in 2006 that would otherwise attract grizzly bears into close proximity of people and property with the support of the Wildlife Committee, MT. Dept, of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP), Allied Waste Services, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Blackfoot area ranchers, and a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Innovation Grant
Collaborated with the NRCS, FWP, FWS, and the Keystone Initiative to construct 12,600 feet of new electric fences on four ranches to non-lethally deter grizzly bears, wolves, and other predators from calving areas and grain sheds, and construct eight new electric fences around beehives in the watershed
Released seventeen trumpeter swans on three separate ranches in the Blackfoot Valley in 2006
Partnered with the Big Blackfoot Chapter of Trout Unlimited (BBCTU) to restore 11,400 feet of stream channel as well as improving the current irrigation system to provide improved habitat, flow, and water temperature for fish
Hosted two separate professional education workshops for Um Graduate, Undergraduate, and OPI credit
Hosted the 6th Annual Youth Field Day for 129 fifth and sixth grade students from six area schools
Hosted or participated in 19 field-based tours and 42 presentations, reaching 2419 participants
Hosted three Blackfoot Watershed Series field days covering local history and identification of native and invasive plants, birds, plants and wetlands of the Blackfoot Community Conservation Area, and a Lewis and Clark bicentennial event
Received 608,159 hits on the Blackfoot Challenge website in 2006 (www.blackfootchallenge.org)
2006 marked the sixth time in seven years the Blackfoot Drought Response Plan has been implemented; 60 irrigators and 8 outfitters participated in drought response in 2006
Formed a working group to look for ways to improve the drought plan and ensure its long term success
Sponsored an irrigation efficiency seminar to establish a long-term water conservation program
To date, 113 conservation easements have been acquired on 93,383 acres which includes 2,191 acres acquired in 2006 by the Montana Land Reliance
To date, a total of 37,220 acres have been conserved through fee title purchase by public agencies (not including lands involved in the Blackfoot Community Project)
To date, the Blackfoot Community Project, a cooperative effort between the Blackfoot Challenge and The Nature Conservancy, has purchased 68,076 acres of Plum Creek Timber Company land and re-sold it to a variety of public agencies and private individuals according to a community-based plan
In 2006, 150 private and public landowners and two homeowner associations implemented integrated weed management on their lands
Co-hosted the Annual Blackfoot Weed Pull and River Cleanup Days with the Big Blackfoot Chapter of Trout Unlimited in June and August
To promote weed identification, the Blackfoot Challenge and its partners developed weed playing cards showcasing the 27 different species identified on Montanas toxic weeds list. Playing cards are available the Blackfoot Challenge office.
Awarded a $122,500 Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service along with Powell County Weed District to promote integrated weed management, prevention, and education
|
Group Plans: The Blackfoot Challenge will continue to serve as an information exchange and a roundhouse to pool resources. The Challenge will implement its mission through its many programs: Conservation Strategies; Water Conservation; Education; Weeds Management; and Wildlife.
Biggest Challenge: We need to find ways to grow to meet the expanding needs and requests of the communities and our partners. Sustaining and building the capacity of our organization, while maintaining local leadership to guide our future efforts is critical.
Additional Comments:
|
| This information was last updated on: 7/7/2008 6:08:14 PM |
|
|
 |
| Join The Team |
 |
| Be A Member |
| Donate Today |
DID YOU KNOW:
Montana is one of four headwater states in the Rocky Mountain region that provides drinking water for over 60 million US Citizens in 11 states.
|
|
View Full Calendar
or Submit an Event
MWCC
PO Box 17106
Missoula, MT 59808
info@mtwatersheds.org |
|
|
