BIG SKY, ENNIS – Ennis school kids have worked with the Jack Creek Water Monitoring Project since 2006, helping collect data on sediments and stream health in the waterway that drains west from Moonlight Basin toward the Madison Valley.
The project, run by Madison Watershed Coordinator Sunni Heikes-Knapton, has seven sites along the creek, from 7,500 feet down to just above its confluence with the Madison River. Much of the area is privately owned and is closed to the public. Moonlight has helped support the project by providing access to sites on its property and helping cover expenses.
This summer, Moonlight Adventure Day will give Big Sky residents and visitors a chance to be part of the project. The day will bring small groups to Jack Creek for a half-day of water monitoring, and a half-day of wildlife education.
“This is a chance to offer people a way to get up on Jack Creek, learn about the project and do a bit of monitoring themselves. It’s in their backyard,” Knapton said.
Biologists from the Wildlife Conservation Society will be on hand, teaching the groups about local wildlife and the importance of habitat.
“Water monitoring is part of the larger scale of things,” Knapton said. “Wildlife can be looked at in the same way.”
Moonlight Adventure Day will be August 18. Call (406) 995-7600 to sign up. Space is limited in this free, daylong program. E.S.
This story was originally published in the Summer 2012 edition of Mountain Outlaw magazine. Read more here.
