After reconstructing the Miners Gulch reach of the Vermilion River in 2016 (shown below), the Kootenai National Forest completed an extensive re-vegetation effort along the newly constructed channel and surrounding 11 acre floodplain in 2017. All materials were flown into the project site via helicopter. This include all plants (400 cottonwoods), 1600 t-posts and about 1 mile of fencing. Forest service crews install cages around new plantings as well as naturally sprouting trees. Irrigation was installed throughout (photo above), and the area was watered once a week in 2017 and will continue to be watered each summer for the next two years.
A post-construction monitoring report from the Forest Service is expected early in 2018.
