Watershed Education Network

Throw Back Thursday It's Matador time again! And check out our WEN friends in the kitchen! Thursday, May 28th from 6-8pm. Head to the Eagles Lodge on 2420 South Ave West - right by Rosauers. You and your friends can enjoy one hearty burrito made to order. turn in the kitchen.

Shout out to the Eagles Lodge for the generous support from every matador sold. Your matador feast helps grow more citizen science programs for Missoula's youth and school groups. Come on down!

Summertime is the best time to get out there on the creek! Bring your waders or we'll have your size. WEN is welcoming new volunteers for data collection and community science projects. Join the creek side fun! The Wilderness Institute at the University of Montana; Lolo Watershed Group; Volunteer Missoula; Missoula County Department of Ecology & Extension; Creek Watershed Group

Field camera station set up at the Rattlesnake Creek beaver dam. Take a hike, take your photo, and share with our community. Stephie Novak made light work of this. And shout out to Andrea Stephens of the The Wilderness Institute at the University of Montana Wilderness Institute at UM.

Spring season in high gear. We're on it - from beaver observations in Rattlsnake Creek, students from Woodman School at Lolo Creek with Lolo Watershed Group and volunteer sessions at the office. Join the fun.

Beavers are remarkable engineers...

Nature often has its own engineers, quietly shaping environments in ways humans are only beginning to understand. Beavers transform landscapes without intention of recognition.

By slowing water and creating wetlands, they build resilience into ecosystems that might otherwise struggle. It’s a reminder that balance often comes from unexpected sources.

Sometimes the best solutions are already at work—we just need to pay attention. 🌊

Today, Thursday from 4-5pm join the WEN team for an Orientation to Youth Programs - the first of our monthly Roundtable for volunteers. Enjoy an overview of youth programs and learn how we create the magic at the river's edge. If you are a new volunteer or a returning volunteer, we would love for you to join this orientation. Light refreshments, conversation, and a few field trip tricks will be served. Join us!

Join our beaver observations in Rattlesnake Creek...

Beavers don’t just build dams. They quietly turn running water into carbon vaults.

The real trick is what happens after the sticks pile up.

A beaver dam slows a stream until the water spreads, sinks, and starts collecting the messy stuff nature loves to recycle: leaves, mud, roots, deadwood, and fresh plant growth.

That soggy chaos matters.

In waterlogged wetlands, carbon-rich material breaks down slowly, getting trapped in sediment instead of rushing downstream or returning quickly to the air. Some research has found beaver-shaped wetlands can store carbon at far higher rates than similar stream corridors without beavers.

Not bad for an animal whose main tools are teeth, mud, and an unreasonable confidence in carpentry.

For centuries, humans trapped beavers for fur and pushed them out of landscapes they had been managing long before anyone used the phrase “climate solution.” Now we are realizing those ponds also cool water, reduce floods, recharge groundwater, and create habitat while quietly banking carbon.

The beaver was never just building a dam.

It was building a future with its teeth.

Update on fish consumption advisories on the Clark Fork River:

As you may have heard, the State of Montana recently updated its fish consumption advisory for some water bodies based on new data confirming the presence of PFAS in fish tissue. PFAS are a class of chemicals linked to cancers and other serious health risks. The State's testing found PFAS in fish tissue, and the new advisory adds PFAS to the list of contaminants found in fish in the Clark Fork River. However, the overall picture of where fish should be avoided hasn't changed much.

For those who like to keep fish caught in the Clark Fork River, the takeaways are:

👉 Everyone should avoid eating any fish caught in the Clark Fork River from its confluence with the Bitterroot River downstream to the confluence with the Flathead River.

👉 Women of child-bearing age and children should avoid eating rainbow trout in the Clark Fork River between its confluence with the Blackfoot and its confluence with the Bitterroot.

👉 Upstream of the Blackfoot, it is recommended that individuals limit the number of fish they eat from the Clark Fork River.

For more details, read the full updated Montana Sportfish Consumption Guidelines found here: https://fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/fish/montana-sport-fish-consumption-guidelines-final-4.21.26.pdf.

For more information on PFAS and fish consumption in Montana, read Amanda Eggert's piece in the Montana Free Press: https://montanafreepress.org/2026/05/06/are-fort-peck-reservoir-fish-too-polluted-to-eat/

Just another Willard Alternative High School day exploring the Clark Fork River!

Its MIssoula Gives times again. You can support WEN by clicking on the links below. Healthy watersheds depend on a knowledgeable community.

Here's to healthy creeks & rivers!
Missoula Gives - The Watershed Education Network:
https://www.missoulagives.org/organizations/the-watershed-education-network
WEN's website donation page:
https://www.montanawatershed.org/donate