Thompson Spring Creek, Gallatin River Watershed, Belgrade, MT.

Orchestrated and managed the development of a classic southwest Montana valley spring creek restoration design plan and construction project on Thompson Spring Creek, a tributary of the East Gallatin River. Due to historic land use practices and subdivision fragmentation, the creek suffered from severe degradation, over widening, sedimentation, and a collapsed fishery with no quality aquatic habitat or geomorphic

function. Negotiated between multiple landowners to develop a full-scale channel restoration project encompassing several small (<60 ac.) rural tracts and nearly a mile of stream corridor. The channel was narrowed and a new bed form was developed with functional pools, riffles, and spawning habitat, resulting in a 30% increase in total channel length and immediate recruitment of trophy sized wild trout throughout the newly restored reach. Off-channel wetland sod borrow sites and a newly constructed floodplain surface adjacent to the new channel enhanced and created new native riparian-wetlands throughout the corridor.