Home Reports & News Media Coverage
Media Coverage

7/01/2007
Funds flow to restore Lolo Creek watershed

By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian

The U.S. Forest Service took the less traveled trail when it put together an ambitious plan to improve water quality in the upper Lolo Creek watershed. Its water quality restoration plan called for spending close to $2 million to remove culverts, decommission roads and complete a variety of other work to begin restoring the watershed in the Lolo Creek drainage above Lolo Hot Springs. The idea looked great on paper when it was signed in 2005, but at the time, the agency had hardly a dime devoted to making sure the work actually occurred. In the past, the Forest Service depended on monies from revenue-generating projects, like timber sales, to pay for fixing roads or replacing culverts. Read the whole article here

3/23/2007
Fishin' Pattee / Trout spied in street-side creek

By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian

Pattee Creek has been pushed around for years. At one time, the lower reaches of the creek wound their way around the front of Mount Sentinel before spilling into the Clark Fork River. Then came settlement, and in the early 1900s, Missoula started changing the creek's course to accommodate development. Read the whole article here

3/19/2005
The Trout Conservancy, a local nonprofit group, is working to restore sections of Pattee Creek to their original habitat and beauty.

By DARYL GADBOW of the Missoulian

Before there was a Missoula, says John Zelazny, Pattee Creek whooshed down Pattee Canyon and meandered across the valley floor, probably northward through what became the University of Montana campus, to spill into the Clark Fork River. Read the whole article here ~ (PDF Download)

12/02/2005
Lolo forest finishes watershed restoration plan, now needs funding

By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian

The Lolo National Forest has put the finishing touches on its plan to improve water quality in the upper Lolo Creek watershed - now all it needs is some help to fund the ambitious project. The agency expects to spend nearly $1.8 million to remove culverts, decommission roads and do a variety of other work to improve water quality in the Lolo Creek drainage above Lolo Hot Springs. The challenge is coming up with the cold hard cash to pay for it. Read the whole article here

7/17/2002
A mess of things

By SHERRY DEVLIN of the Missoulian

BELMONT CREEK - Jo Christensen's stream restoration work looks a lot like her desk: messy, random, like a windstorm blew through last night. Like nature... Read the whole article here