Project Updates

Riparian Fencing on the Granger Ranch : In partnership with the owners of the Granger Ranch, the Foundation in 2010 will install seasonal electric fencing to keep cattle out of the Madison River. The fencing, combined with a seasonal grazing management plan developed by a consultant under contract to the Foundation, will prevent cattle from entering the river along an almost four-mile stretch immediately upstream of Ennis.

Fencing along the Madison on the Granger Ranch

The fencing will be installed in the spring and monitored by Foundation staff and volunteers during the grazing season. Fencing will protect the river banks against trampling and browsing, as well as restore riparian vegetation damaged by grazing. The Foundation hopes this demonstration project with a private landowner becomes a model for future partnerships.

 

Lake Creek (Smith Lake) : The Foundation completed its share of the work on this project over the summer of 2009. With grant funding provided by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Patagonia and PPL Montana, the Foundation drilled a well to provide an alternate source of water for a grazing allotment atop Wade Lake Bench on Lake Creek, a tributary of the West Fork of the Madison River.

Drilling rig on the Lake Creek Project

By providing an alternative source for stock water, the need to draw water from Lake Creek will be removed. A small dam on the creek that backs up a pond called Smith Lake no longer will need to be raised in late summer and fall, thereby blocking spawning runs of river brown trout. The project is a partnership between the Foundation, the rancher, the US Forest Service, and the Sundance Bench Owners Association. The project will be completed in 2010.

 

West Madison Ditch : The Foundation has received a $40,000 grant from PPL Montana to install a fish barrier on this 16-mile-long ditch on the west side of the river to stop the entrainment of fish from the Madison in late summer and fall.

Fish Barrier at Lake Creek Project

Volunteers from the Foundation have mounted a fish rescue each fall, returning thousands of fish to the river when the water flow in the ditch is shut down. In partnership with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the Foundation is seeking a permanent solution to the problem. We anticipate the installation of a permanent fish barrier in the ditch below the new head gate in the summer of 2010.

 

Wigwam Creek : This headwaters tributary of the Madison in the Gravelly Mountains supports a small population of native westslope cutthroat trout. The Foundation in partnership with the US Forest Service has installed in-stream habitat improvements in the creek.

Wigwam Creek along the Madison River

We have obtained a $22,000 grant from the Future Fisheries Improvement Fund of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to continue the habitat restoration work and to install fencing to exclude cattle from the creek. The in-stream work and fencing will be completed in the summer of 2010.

 

Cabin Creek : This tributary of the Madison flows into the river below Hebgen Dam. It supports a population of native westslope cutthroat trout that is almost genetically pure. We have obtained a $5,000 grant from PPL Montana to build a fish barrier in the creek to block upstream migration of rainbow trout from the main stem of the Madison. This will stop rainbow trout from interbreeding with the remnant population of cutthroats. Engineering studies are ongoing and we anticipate the work on the fish barrier will be completed in 2010.

 

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Partnership : The Foundation funded a scientific survey of resident Madison River users and landowners in the summer of 2008. The purpose of this survey was to ascertain the views of river users regarding the quality of their experience on the Madison, especially focusing on such issues as the numbers of public using the river, the kinds of use, potential conflicts among users, etc. The department followed up the 2008 mail survey with an on-site survey of non-resident users in the summer of 2009. Results of the surveys are available from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Such surveys will provide information to help the department make future management decisions regarding the Madison.

 

Grayling Creek : Progress on the data collection and survey portion of this project has been slow. Several design issues still need to be addressed. Mapping has been completed, but full channel restoration may be difficult. This is on-going.

 

Adopt a Highway : The Foundation has “officially” adopted a one mile stretch of a county road that passes one of the state‘s Fishing Access Sites. Volunteers pick up trash along the section of road three times a year.