In Northwest Montana, most of the water that we rely on for irrigation, hydropower, recreation, and hydration begins as snow in the mountains. Our last blog post explored resources available through the Montana Snow Survey for monitoring the accumulation of…
By: Fiona Handler, Big Sky Watershed Corps Member Some of you may have noticed that this winter has not brought a ton of snow…YET! If you are interested in keeping track throughout the season, the Montana Snow Survey from the…
By Samantha Tappenbeck When asked to describe a forest, you might describe standing trees with a canopy of green foliage, shrubs forming the understory, and leaves and needles mixed with soil and moss on the forest floor. An often overlooked…
Greg Magone is a Whitefish native and grew up in the Flathead Valley. In 2018, he and his wife Stephanie purchased a 20-acre property in West Valley near Lore Lake. Although once heavily forested, the previous landowner had cleared large…
By Samantha Tappenbeck Using evergreens for holiday decorating is a long-standing tradition in many parts of the world. In the United States alone, there are approximately 25-30 million Christmas trees sold every year, and there are nearly 350 million trees…
The landscape and hydrology west of the continental divide present unique challenges to ranchers and their natural resources. Surface water is relatively abundant, and offers a source of clean, fresh water. However, unlike the large, sprawling rangeland and prairie pastures…
Composting is a great way to turn yard waste, kitchen scraps, and household waste items into something useful. By creating conditions for decomposition to occur, microbes turn waste materials into an earthy, nutrient-rich soil amendment for your garden. For most…
This guest blog post was written by Valerie Kurth, Water Resource Planner for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and Member of the Montana Watershed Coordination Council (MWCC) Water Committee. Check out the MWCC blog for the original…
Beneficial insects can be found roaming your garden. Pictured above, some resident insects crawling on Phacelia flowers in the FCD Demonstration Garden pollinator plot. Insects are often thought of as pests or nuisances. The bite of a mosquito, the decimation…
By Mikaela Richardson, FCD Big Sky Watershed Corps Member Randy Hohf has had a dream to have a native plant garden in his backyard, while assisting in the preservation of the groundwater aquifer and Flathead Lake. Luckily for him the…