ARNOLD COULEE PROJECT

In 2022, SRWG received funding from Montana Watershed Coordination Council to complete a low-tech, process-based restoration project on Arnold Coulee, a tributary to the Sun River. The project focuses on a one-mile section of Arnold Coulee in Teton County in Central Montana.

 To kick off the project, volunteers and staff worked for three days gathering four trailer loads of willows along the Pishkun Canal and transported them to the project site. Once project materials were harvested, a specialized Montana Conservation Corps field crew worked on-site for 10 days to build a series of low-tech structures throughout a one-mile section of Arnold Coulee. The field work included driving posts into the stream bed and weaving willows around the posts to create structures that mimic beaver dams (BDA, or Beaver Dam Analogs), building woody debris jams against the stream banks (PALS, or Post-Assisted Log Structures), and leveling out the slope of the stream channel bed. These structures help slow stream flow to keep the surrounding land area wetter longer into the summer months, reduce stream erosion, and increase vegetation.

The team held a workshop so stakeholders could learn about these simple, low-cost restoration techniques and to help build some structures. Before the project began, SRWG and BLM documented the site conditions, and they will conduct post-project monitoring into the future to assess project performance.

After 14 days on site, a total of 38 structures were built throughout the project area. This important work would not be possible without the collaboration of the many volunteers and project partners, including SRWG, BLM, National Wildlife Foundation, Montana Watershed Coordination Council Watershed Fund, Montana Conservation Corps, and technical support from Amy Chadwick. For more information, please contact Tracy Wendt at tracy@sunriverwatershed.org.