Big Sky Times

Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest stretches 2.8 million acres through central and north-central Montana.

“The second phase of the Beaver Creek Restoration Project will begin this autumn. This aims to improve a primary spawning tributary for rainbow and brown trout,” Alli Russell, fisheries biologist, told 8KPAX News. “There's been a natural decline in spawning trout in Beaver Creek pretty much since the mid-1990s."

The project's mission is to restore approximately 1.2 miles of lower Beaver Creek. Restoration of the creek will include adding large pieces of wood to the creek area, adding vegetation to the banks -- such as willows -- and creating spawning pools for rainbow and brown trout.

The U.S. Forest Service is also working to maintain water levels so the creek will stay connected with the Missouri River and support the vegetation and animals that call this place home, as it is a primary spawning tributary.

“The rainbow and the brown trout being the focal species and the recreational component was a huge part of this project, but ultimately this landscape has been altered by man since the late 1800s. And so I think a huge part of this project addressed just improving the stream condition, as it is a riparian habitat,” Russell told 8KPAX News.