Montana Watershed Coordination Council


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Wetland and Watershed Stewardship Awards 2007

On May 23, 2007, the Montana Watershed Coordination Council and the Wetland Council jointly honored their stewardship award recipients. The Montana Wetland Stewardship Award Program recognizes individuals who exemplify excellence, innovation and extraordinary commitment in wetlands protection, restoration and conservation. The Montana Watershed Stewardship Award recognizes innovative, locally led approaches to restoring and enhancing Montana’s watersheds.
In total, four official awards were given including one joint award and one surprise award. The Montana Wetland Council honored Jim Stone and his family for private wetland stewardship and Dave Carr from the Nature Conservancy and Gary Sullivan from the US Fish and Wildlife Service jointly for their role in a successful partnership between a public and private organization. MWCC honored the Critical Lands Project of the Flathead Lakers and Bill Milton for their exemplary watershed work. Throughout the day, the importance of partnerships was emphasized by every recipient and speaker. The magnitude of the work accomplished by these recipients would not have been possible without the relationships established between the stakeholders, landowners, public and agencies.

Jim Stone and his family are recognized for their long history of extensive wetland and watershed restoration beginning in 1992 and continuing through today. Jim has restored over 375 acres of wetlands, enhanced 135 acres and restored more than 2 miles of stream on their ranch. The Rolling Stone Ranch has placed more than 2,400 acres into perpetual conservation easement, removed seven fish barriers, integrated weed management on 2,400 acres, and enhanced grazing systems on more than 2,200 acres of the ranch. The Rolling Stone Ranch is a model of private land stewardship.

Gary Sullivan and Dave Carr are jointly recognized for their vital role in a partnership between a federal agency and a conservation group which has resulted in protection of over 2,500 acres of wetlands along the Rocky Mountain Front. Due to their dedication, passion and creativity, millions of dollars were raised to purchase over 60,000 acres of perpetual conservation easements. Gary and Dave believe strongly that private landowners and communities must have a voice in natural resource decisions. This commitment to public outreach has generated widespread support for wetland and landscape conservation along the Rocky Mountain Front.

The Critical Lands Project, initiated by the Flathead Lakers in 1999, is a collaborative effort that brings together local stakeholders to protect lands critical for maintaining or improving water quality, wildlife habitat and the quality of life in the Flathead Lake Watershed. CLP partners came together to define and identify critical areas, develop and implement critical lands protection and restoration projects, secure funding, educate the public about critical lands, and build grassroots support. Through their efforts, over 2,000 acres of critical wetlands are now protected by conservation easement and 1,100 feet of stream have been restored.


Jim Stutzman, U.S. Fish Wildlife Sevice (left) and Jim Stone, Rancher (right) talk about partnering for successful private wetland stewardship on the Rolling Stone Ranch.	Brady Stone	Gary Sullivan, U.S. Fish Wildlife Service explains his role in wetland conservation along the Rocky Mountain Front.

Dave Carr, The Nature Conservancy talks about successful partnerships supporting wetland conservation along the Rocky Mountain Front.	Constanza von der Pahlen, Flathead Lakers talks about the success of their Critical Lands Project in the Flathead Valley.	Sue Higgins, MWCC Co-Chair welcomes everyone to the 2007 Wetland and Watershed Stewardship Award Ceremony.

Lynda Saul, Chair of Montana Wetland Council, talks about the importance of stewardship and wetlands.	Hal Harper, Governor’s Chief Policy Advisor, addresses the audience on Montana’s vision and leadership in watershed /wetland issues.	Jim Stutzman introduces Jim Stone and his family, recipient of a Wetland Stewardship Award from the Montana Wetland Council.

The Stone family, Jim Colleen and Brady.	The Stone family receives the award.	Gary Sullivan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Dave Carr, The Nature Conservancy address the audience.

Tom Hinz, Montana Wetlands Legacy introduces Dave Carr, The Nature Conservancy and Gary Sullivan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.	Gary Sullivan and Dave Carr receive a Wetland Stewardship Award from the Montana Wetland Council.	Dan Barz, Flathead Lakers President, addresses the audience.

Jim Stone, keynote speaker addresses the audience. He emphasized the importance of partnerships and taking the next step, looking beyond what we are doing now for even larger partnerships.	Jen Boyer, MWCC Co-Chair addresses the audience and announces the surprise individual Watershed Stewardship Award winner, Bill Milton.	Bill Milton, Musselshell Watershed Group, receives his Watershed Stewardship Award from Montana Watershed Coordination Council.

Critical Lands Project and Partners receive the Watershed Stewardship Award from the Montana Watershed Coordination Council.

Four criteria are used to evaluate nominations for the Watershed Stewardship Award:

diverse local involvement and effective collaboration;
demonstration of measurable results;
community outreach and education;
and a comprehensive approach to watershed health.

The Montana Watershed Stewardship Award is sponsored by the Montana Watershed Coordination Council, a statewide information and support network that advances voluntary local watershed work and helps build the capacity to get it done.
For more information on these and other Montana watershed efforts, visit:
http://water.montana.edu/mwcc/default.asp