2023 Year End Review
As 2023 draws to a close, our team at the Madison River Foundation would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to those who have supported our conservation mission this year. Every donor, member, volunteer, and community member has played an integral role in the success of the foundation and the preservation of the Madison River. Read on to review our highlights of 2023!
Your gifts make this work possible. Please keep the Madison River Foundation in the forefront of your thoughts this giving season. If you would like to continue to support the foundation in 2024, please consider making a donation, becoming a member, or renewing your annual membership.
We wish and your loved ones a happy holiday season and a joyous new year!
Projects
Irrigation Ditch Fish Rescue
Between October 16th-20th, volunteers working with the MRF and FWP relocated more than 3,000 fish from the West Madison/Valley Garden irrigation canal back to the Madison River. Mature native brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout were returned to the mainstem of the Madison to continue their reproductive cycles. It's estimated that the volunteers spent a combined total of 1,800 hours walking the canals, catching fish, and transferring them via buckets to the river. Many members of the community rallied around the process, including students at the Madison Valley Adventure Academy and members of the Ennis High School Lady Mustangs Volleyball Team. Due to this hard work and commitment, thousands of fish were given a second chance at life and are continuing to thrive in their natural habitat. Special thanks to True Value Hardware for providing buckets, Madison Foods for supplying lunch, and the Madisonian for covering the story.
In July, the MRF met with Region 3 Fisheries Manager Mike Duncan and Confluence Consulting Project Manager Mike Sanctuary to discuss headgate engineering updates with local landowners. The aim of future projects is to minimize the amount of fish that become trapped in irrigation ditches and divert them back to a side channel or the mainstem. Designs are still in development and will be tailored to fit the unique geography of each headgate, and the foundation hopes to work collaboratively with landowners to help limit the scale of such rescues in the future.
Jack Creek Beaver Dam Analog Installation
From July 24th through August 2nd, The MRF partnered with Jack Creek Preserve to install 3 beaver dam analog structures and 12 scour pools along sections of Upper Jack Creek. These structures will help reactivate historic floodplains in the area, revitalize surrounding riparian vegetation, restore eroded riverbanks, and supply water to nearby aquifers. We also hope to see more trout utilizing the slow, shallow pools, providing a place for Jack Creek campers to learn to fish!
In October, foundation staff members accompanied Ennis Middle School students on a field trip to report on the progress of the analog structures and measure flow rate, water depth and temperature, and the riverbank profile. Students learned about the impact of beavers on riparian habitats and practiced conducting scientific measurements in the field. Jack Creek staff members Abi and Addison gave engaging presentations and the students spent a memorable afternoon hiking around the preserve!
Montana State University Tributary Study
On October 5th, MRF staff member Casey assisted Dr. Lindsey Albertson, PhD student Sam Fritz, and masters students from the MSU ecology program as they sampled sections of Ruby Creek near the Red Mountain campground. The experiment was conducted to measure nitrogen uptake by macroinvertebrates and assess the health of the creek over multiple years. The samples were collected from 8pm to 3am under the light of a gibbous moon. The results of the study, along with 3 years of research on the creek ecosystem, will be published by MSU in 2024.
River Cleanup
On August 19th, the MRF led the Annual Upper Madison River Cleanup efforts from Valley Garden to Hebgen Dam. A dozen volunteers participated and cleaned trash on foot and via driftboat along the river and at multiple takeout sites. The river cleanup was hosted in partnership with Madison-Gallatin Trout Unlimited, and volunteers at the Lower Madison gathered over 30 bags of trash.
Events
Music on the Madison
Our first annual conservation appreciation concert, Music on the Madison, was a wonderful evening of live music, family fun, and community building! An estimated 500 people attended the event and multiple local organizations participated in the conservation fair, such as Jack Creek Preserve, Montana FWP, the Forest Service, the Ennis Lion's Club, and more. Special thanks to our host, the Madison Double R, our headliner, Mark Mackay, and our Business sponsors: Madison Foods, Madison River Fishing Company, Montana Angler, and PureWest Christie's Real Estate.
International Fly Fishing Film Festival
The 2023 International Fly Fishing Film Festival was screened at the Madison Theatre on August 24th, which consisted of 8 short films produced by fly anglers from around the world showcasing the lifestyle and excitement of fly fishing. The foundation also screened the short film "They Call Me Madison," which illustrates the profound effect of the Madison River on our watershed, ecosystems, and community. Raffle prizes were awarded, drinks and snacks were enjoyed, and a great time was had by all! Click on the video below to view the short film.
Watershed Speaker Series
This summer, the MRF partnered with the Madison Conservation District to host a series of lectures on conservation topics affecting the Madison River ecosystem. Presentations included: The State of the Madison by Mike Duncan, Drought Resiliency by Andrew Welch, Restoration Projects on the Madison by Tom Parker, Salmonflies in the West by Dr. Lindsay Albertson, and a Conservation Discussion Panel with Addison Perryman, Jon Hanson, and Marina Smith.
Volunteer Opportunities
Many local community members worked with the Madison Conservation District on the Stream Team water monitoring project, visiting 4 creek sites weekly to monitor flow rate, temperature, and other river conditions and compile a log of citizen science data for MSU research projects. In August, the MCD conducted a Tributary Blitz, a one-day water quality sampling event of 16 tributaries of the Madison River. The information collected will be used to monitor the health of the tributaries and identify possible restoration opportunities.
Madison Valley locals also donated their time to assist the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group in monitoring the growth of noxious weeds along the riverbank. Volunteers rowed drift boats, logged weed species on a web application, and marked areas for future weed pulls.
Finally, members of the MRF taught skills such as fly tying, trail etiquette, and astronomy at the Jack Creek Preserve Outdoor Skills Camps in July and August. The MRF would like to thank everyone who volunteered their time and effort on projects this year!
If you would like to be added to our volunteer list for 2024, send us an email at info@madisonriverfoundation.org.
Thanks for another great year! Here’s to the next!
-The MRF Team
Year End Review 2022
Our Members, Donors and You made the difference.
As we are busy getting our new year ready to move forward, we wanted to take time to thank all of those who supported the Madison River Foundation over the last 12 months. We have had our best year of support and couldn’t have done it without you.
Water Resources
In 2022, successful fundraising efforts allowed us to continue the operation and maintenance of the Varney USGS gauge, which provides valuable river temperature data, and to install multiple sondes to monitor water quality and seasonal data on crucial tributaries of the Madison. These devices are beginning to generate the data needed to better understand the challenges facing the watershed, as well as the factors that influence the flow and health of the river. Lastly, we kicked off an ongoing series of Full Watershed monitoring sessions conducted jointly with the USGS and MFWP. These large-scale surveys will provide a comprehensive view of the in-and-out flows from the Madison during critical times throughout the year.
Education and Community Outreach
The MRF was fortunate to volunteer consistently with the local youth community this year, from providing education stations for school children in the field and conservation instruction at Jack Creek Preserve outdoor skills camps to presenting awards at the science fair and issuing scholarships to high school seniors pursuing a science-based education. Also, a generous donation from a community member allowed us to host three Montana Conservation Corps interns this summer, who partnered with local agencies such as the MVRG Weed Committee, Madison Conservation District, Fish Wildlife and Parks, and the Forest Service on projects that provided hands-on conservation experience, prepared them for future careers in environmental science, and facilitated lasting and meaningful connections within the Ennis community.
River Science
The MRF rediscovered the importance of collaboration and cooperation in 2022 in partnering with the Madison Conservation District to host monthly Watershed Speaker Series events. Leaders in their respective fields were invited to present their perspectives on issues and solutions related to river science for preserving, protecting, and enhancing the watershed. Speakers included Jeff Laszlo, Karin Boyd, Remy Georgeton, and Ryan Kreiner. These events have also led to key initiatives guiding how we approach and select the projects for 2023 and beyond. Due to the leadership of Jim Kramer (Former Board Chair), the success of this past year’s Speaker Series will continue in 2023. Keep an eye out for the upcoming dates and lineup!
The Year of River and Riparian Restoration
While 2022 saw fewer pick-and-shovel projects implemented, it was a valuable year of planning for the 2023 season. We were able to partner with Jack Creek Preserve Foundation in preparation for an Upper Jack Creek restoration project to improve water quality and riparian health, and have been working to evolve our Ruby Swale project into a full riverside channel restoration/reactivation to increase the spawning and rearing habitat in this stretch of the river. We will also be updating and finishing our Storey Ditch riverbank project to reconnect the vegetation to the lowered water table. Collaborations with local organizations will lead our volunteers out into the watershed with additional smaller projects, such as installing Beaver Dam Analogs on key upper river tributaries.
This year saw a BIG increase in community engagement and support of the river.
From volunteer efforts such as the joint river clean-up in September and multiple days of fish rescue in our local irrigation ditches, to the amazing program support via our Round Up for the River initiative through Madison Foods and the rounding up of your purchases. This community program alone was able to raise $10,000 for our river restorations projects slated for this year. We also held an annual fundraising dinner and auction which generated not only our largest success of its kind for the MRF but also had many generous community businesses providing support via donated items and even the event venue provided by the Madison Double R.