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Rebuilding Black Sandy
In the peak of summer in 2019, a bank at Black Sandy State Park eroded and sloughed into Hauser Reservoir. The erosion cut into the tent camping area at the state park and nearly took out a tent pitched nearby.
The tent camping sites at Black Sandy were already fairly small, and the bank erosion diminished them further, said Craig Putchat, Helena Area Recreation Manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
To build back the camping area and stabilize the bank, Montana State Parks received a Missouri-Madison River Fund Grant, supported with matching funds from NorthWestern Energy. The grant paid for the work to stabilize the eroding shoreline.
The River Fund Trust and NorthWestern Energy have funded 160 public recreation improvement projects on the Missouri and Madison rivers with $6 million in funding by the trust and $1.6 million in matching funds from NorthWestern Energy in the past 17 years.
“The Missouri and Madison rivers offer a wide variety of public recreation facilities and opportunities,” said Andy Welch, Hydropower License Compliance Manager with NorthWestern Energy. “Continued improvements at these sites will ensure that those opportunities exist for future generations.”
Last April, about 30 volunteers gathered at Spring Meadow Lake State Park in Helena to help cut willows that were then planted on the shoreline at Black Sandy State Park. Nine NorthWestern Energy employees were among the volunteers helping with the willow gathering efforts. NorthWestern Energy made a $900 TEAM Grant donation to Montana’s Outdoor Legacy Foundation in acknowledgment of the employees’ volunteer time.
The willows will help stabilize the bank and prevent future bank erosion from wave action and ice, Craig said. Among the willows, engineered steps will limit future impacts to the bank while providing public access to the waterway. The project was completed last summer.
The Missouri-Madison River Fund trust for public recreation, valued at $7 million, was created through the collaborative efforts of NorthWestern Energy; Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks; U.S. Forest Service; U.S. Bureau of Land Management; Madison, Gallatin, Broadwater, Lewis and Clark, Cascade and Chouteau counties; and numerous other public and private partners.
“NorthWestern Energy and its employees are proud to continue to support this collaborative private-public effort to improve recreation facilities and opportunities on these great rivers,” Andy said.
