There is still a lot of snow in the high country and the river will likely come up another time or two as the snow melts out of the Cabinet Mountains, but the Bull River valley is greening up. This spring, we continue our efforts to improve the condition of streamside areas along the Bull River. In early May, we partnered with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to plant 250 black cottonwood trees along the banks of the Bull River. The above photo shows the property on the Bull River where these trees were planted. This effort kicked off what will be a busy season of planting.
In late May or June, thousands of containerized plants will be put in the ground 7 properties in exclosures that were installed two years ago. First, weed suppression fabric was laid down over reed canarygrass, then last fall willows were staked throughout, and this spring they will be filled with new plantings.
Additionally, in the fall, we will be working on a few additional properties to plant even more native trees and shrubs, using a slightly different technique. With these plantings, we will mechanically disturb a small area, creating a space in the reed canarygrass to plant native species. We will plant individual trees and install weed suppression fabric around their base and then install individual browse protection cages.
All of these efforts are completed through collaboration with willing landowners, partners like the Green Mountain Conservation District and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, as well as numerous funders.
Visit our Bull River Re-vegetation page for more information on this project!