Aspire School Rises to the Challenge of Developing a Floodplain

Photo by Cassie Sevigny

On a sunny winter’s day at McCauley Butte next to the Bitterroot River, I met with staff from the Watershed Education Network (WEN) and students and their educators from Aspire High School. Aspire is an “alternative” school based on experiential education and recently acquired a good portion of land on McCauley Butte and the Flat. Our group was assembled to council with Aspire students as they investigated a community resilience topic for the RISE Challenge Big Sky, hosted by Brightways Learning and WEN. The students were confronted with identifying a real-world environmental issue and developing a solution with an action plan to address this issue. These students chose to address how to use a riparian floodplain as a year-round outdoor classroom. 

I first learned about their project when Deb Fassnacht from WEN contacted the Missoula Conservation District (CD) to ask if we had any insight on what sort of structures could be constructed in the floodplain, and if a representative from the CD could come out and meet with the students. I was happy to oblige. 

The land Aspire school owns is the riparian area between the Butte and the Bitterroot River. The riparian area is beautiful from an ecological standpoint, and I would consider it high-value habitat. The area has beaver ponds and cottonwoods and hosts waterfowl, woodpeckers, and other wildlife.  The challenge for the students is this land is not only in the floodplain, but the floodway. The floodway doesn’t just get standing water covering it occasionally; flood water moves through these areas with a fair bit of velocity, like you-better-watch-out-for-ponderosa-pines-floating-through kind of velocity. Almost all planning and zoning regulations prohibit any development in the floodway.

The students knew they could not build a traditional structure or even a boardwalk in this area, so they were coming up with all sorts of ideas on how to create an attractive educational space on the property. As I covered some of the regulatory challenges the students faced, including a conservation easement that the previous owners put in place with the Five Valleys Land Trust, the students began discussing (more alternatives?) ideas. Their eyes lit up as they discussed solutions such as rope bridges, floating decks, and hanging platforms. While I could speak about zoning, floodplain regulation, and conservation easements generally, the Missoula Conservation District only has regulatory authority over 310 permits based on Montana’s Natural Streambed and land Preservation Act. 

A 310 permit is required to ensure that natural rivers and streams, and the lands and property immediately adjacent to them, are protected and preserved to be available in their natural or existing state. The interesting thing about this particular permit is that there is no automatic definable jurisdictional boundary. Often time the CD generally looks at the riparian buffer within 50 feet of a major navigable river, but any project that degrades environmental life support systems or causes unreasonable depletion and degradation of natural resources in a riparian corridor could come under 310 jurisdiction, and yet… almost no one knows a 310 permit application is needed for work near a river.

Radley and a student investigate a possible beaver breathing
hole in the ice. (Photo by Cassie Sevigny)

After talking 310 permitting and wandering the land, we headed back to our vehicles. I think I left the students with more questions than answers. I felt bad about that, but that is the nature of science and exploration. It was awesome to see students engaged in place-based education and the excitement of the students as they stood on a frozen beaver pond and talking about beaver ecology will stay with me for a long time. 

What will these students propose to do to make this floodplain a year-round classroom? Will they try to suspend fellow classmates from the trees? Will they float them over a beaver pond? I don’t know, but in any case, they are going to learn a lot about rivers, flood plains, and riparian areas, and how humans interact in these changing riverine environments.

-Radley Watkins

Resource Conservationist

Missoula Conservation District

Snow Hikes, Snow Spiders, Snow Flies, Oh My!

By Cassie Sevigny

Bear Creek (Photo by Cassie Sevigny)

I went hiking this weekend with a friend who's moving away from Montana. We drove up to Bear Creek trail, expecting mud and a trail-turned-creek, but spring is not so progressed yet. Instead we found a low-traffic, barely-compressed solid snow trail that was much easier to traverse. The snow lay in heaps on rocks like pillows, hid the true edges of the creek, stuck in frozen puffs to the sides of small trees, and reflected the days brilliant cold sunshine back at us. Good thing I wore sunscreen!

As we walked I noticed little black spiders on the trail. Warming up, perhaps? Despite their dark color against the white, they blended in with all the other natural debris flecking the snow. Only their flicking legs caught my attention. I wondered if these spiders just didn't go dormant for winter, or if the sun was waking them up.

Snow pillows (Photo by Cassie Sevigny)

Then in an open snowfield I saw another bug crawling - black and winged, crawling uphill away from the creek. Two tails, wings folded neatly over each other on its back, made me guess it could be a stonefly. One fly is just a curiosity, until my friend said he's seen some earlier. And then there was another. And two more. All crawling uphill, crossing the trail a decent ways away from the creek. Perhaps a hatch? Were these the very winter stoneflies WEN featured on Science Friday?

Winter stoneflies are not very strong fliers and instead walk around on the ice and snow looking for a mate, just like the ones I saw. Their dark color may help them better absorb the heat from the sun when emerging in such cold months, though they also have their own internal antifreeze! 

Snow fly (Photo by Cassie Sevigny)

I was probably seeing the aptly named "small winter stonefly" (capniidae) since these were smaller and more delicate than most stoneflies I have seen around the Clark Fork in the summer. Missoulian Angler confirms that small winter stoneflies emerge in February and March, and have been found around the Bitterroot River, of which Bear Creek is a tributary. Missoulian Angler also informs me that they have a much cooler name, the "snow fly," which I shall use from now on!

I saw more and more spiders as we hiked too, now that I was looking for any black moving speck in our path. Were the spiders emerging too? Were they looking to eat the stoneflies? My search for information pulled up another blog where someone else wondered the same thing, but for streamside spiders catching insects in their webs. I only saw the spiders. I forgot to photograph the spiders I saw so I cannot identify them precisely, but they were small and black, like many of the spiders active during winter. (Most spiders go dormant to survive the cold.) Maybe they are black for the same reason as their potential prey - to stay warm.

While I found no definitive answer to whether the black snow spiders eat the black snow flies, I was delighted I could reasonably speculate! Working with WEN enabled me to guess that I was seeing some kind of stonefly, and also exposed me to the theoretical existence of winter stoneflies. Finding them in the wild and relating them to the environment I found them in made the cool science facts so much more real, tangible, and relevant to me. Finding small details in a landscape and being able to understand them, or hazard a guess as to their role, also enhances my experience outdoors and makes me feel more connected to the environment than if I saw hikes as "just passing through." Chance encounters with tiny wildlife can mean just as much as the sun shining beautifully between the tall thin  evergreens or the companion you talk to on the way, and I'm glad I had all three.

Photo by Cassie Sevigny

Best Ways to Preserve Nature while Hiking

By Cendy Moliere, Personal Injury Law

Photo by Cassie Sevigny

You have planned a hike to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. Good choice, as hiking offers numerous benefits for adventure seekers of all ages. The physical activity alone enhances several body functions, such as the immune system and the strength of your muscles. Hiking is also an eco-friendly way to preserve nature, that is, if you follow five times tested tips for preserving nature while hiking.

Do Not Trash Mother Nature

The first tip on our list might appear to be common sense, but you would be surprised to learn about the number of hikers that do not completely remove all of the trash from a campground or resting area. We are talking about recyclable trash, not materials like plastic that take centuries to degrade. Another element of the remove all trash movement involves leaving human waste. Dig a hole at least six inches deep in an area that is not visited by humans. Even better, hike a trail that provides portable toilets at certain intervals.

Sleep at Established Campsites

If you plan to take a multiple day hike, you need to find spots to call it a day. Many trails have established campgrounds available for hikers to use. Campsites are carefully designed to disturb Mother Nature as little as possible. Many campsites offer shelters that protect hikers against bad weather conditions. Camping in a spot away from established campsites can leave long-term damage for the vegetation you have flatten to sleep.

Keep Water Sources Clean 

We know the timeless adage: “I’ll go when I have to go.” It makes sense, but you should go when you have to go at a spot that is located far away from the nearest water source. A good rule of thumb is to do your thing at least 200 feet away from a creek, a stream, or a river. Use biodegradable soap to prevent tainting delicate water supplies. In addition, avoid washing dishes and clothes next to a body of water.

Smokey the Bear Says Build Small Fires 

Smokey likes to tell people about the importance of putting out fires, but he also has a message for hikers that need to build a fire for cooking and/or for generating warmth on a cold night. Keep every fire you build small to leave less of an impact on the environment. Most trails mention ideal locations for building fires, so check with park and wilderness manuals to locate suggested spots for building a fire.

Buy Eco-Friendly Hiking Clothes

You do not hear much about this tip, but it is an important tip to remember because of the materials used to design and produce hiking clothes. You have to understand the production process to learn about which type of hiking clothes places the least amount of stress on the environment. Every time an article of hiking clothes is made, pollution rises from a factory to negatively impact the fragile ecosystem. You should also look for hiking clothes that use organic materials, such as organic cotton.

 

This article was provided by www.personalinjury-law.com, an organization dedicated to providing the public with information about personal injury and safety information. Nothing in this article should be construed as legal advice, and it is intended for informational use only. 

 

A Special Place

By Aissa Wise

 Hiking up the trail, backpack full of chocolate and gear, waders and boots tied together and draped over my shoulders. Finding the right configuration of gear placement on my person while hiking to the stream is a skill; sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don’t. How long can I hike with my clunky wade boots smacking my side? Are my waders dragging in the mud? Are my Stream Team volunteers ready to collapse? We round the bend, and the best view of Rattlesnake Creek is before us. A few volunteers mimic my awestruck gasp. I’ve seen this view a thousand times, but it never gets old. In fact, it looks different every time. Today, the Red Osier Dogwood that frames the creek is the color of ripe raspberry. We set our gear down for a deep breath of fresh autumn air and bask in the presence of the creek. A special place. I point out an American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) to the volunteers, a sweet little dark grey bird doing her famous dipper dance on a moss covered boulder in search of insects under the water. 

I continue down the trail to the creek, gear and volunteers in tow. I lead them to a special spot I particularly love to share. This place is off the beaten path, set apart from the daily Missoula recreators hiking and biking the Rattlesnake Creek trail system. A special place. The far side of the creek is framed by a large cliff, elegantly curved from years of the creek rushing by. We share our side with creek loving alders (Alnus incana), cottonwoods (Populus trichocarpa), red osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera), willows (Salix bebbiana), serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), and mountain ash trees (Sorbus americana). Before we set up, I share with my volunteers that we are on sacred ground of the Salish, Pend d'Oreille, & Kootenai Native American People and we honor the path they have always shown us in caring for the environment. I am sure to thank my volunteers for honoring this special place. 

Waders on and safety talk finished, the volunteers split into three groups. Each group will monitor three different water quality parameters; biological, chemical and physical properties of the creek. Group one will collect and count aquatic macroinvertebrates (insects) which are incredible bioindicators (living organisms that give us an idea of the health of an ecosystem). Group two will collect water samples to measure temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen. The last group will measure the creek from bank to bank, describe rocks and cobbles and measure stream flow to get an idea of the physical shape of the creek. We will continue to collect this data for many years in hopes that it will help us, and others, to better understand how the creek is changing over time due to climate change and an increase of human pressure. In turn, this data will allow for better decisions to be made for the health of Rattlesnake Creek, the fish and insects that swim in it, the American Dippers that dance along it, and all of the plants that rely on it. This is a special place.