06Jan 2023 by lccd2

Ice Jams

Flooding
Weather.gov says that Montana has the largest number of ice jams in the contiguous United States. Just a reminder to those living on rivers and streams, that if emergency conditions arise, if life, property, crops or livestock are at imminent risk, work can be done by the landowner to safeguard their property, but an Emergency Notice--preferably with photos of the before and after work--must be submitted to the Conservation District within 15 days of doing the work.   Forms can be mailed to Lewis and Clark Conservation District, 790 Colleen Street, Helena MT 59601 or emailed to lccd@mt.net.  If you have any questions, call the CD office at 406-389-3884.
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24Jun 2021 by lccd2

Riparian Management Workshop

Agriculture, Cost Share, Education, Events, Flooding, Monitoring, Programs, Range
This workshop, sponsored by the Lewis and Clark Conservation District, and partially funded by a grant from the MACD Programs, will be held on September 14th and will begin at 8:30 am.  We'll start the day at the Augusta Youth Center, next door to the Augusta Senior Center, for the morning portion and lunch provided by the Buckhorn Bar.   The afternoon will be in the field at a landowner's property on Elk Creek. Lunch choices are Burgers or Chicken.  We're asking a $5 fee to help cover the lunch costs since the grant doesn't cover that part.  Topics to be covered will include Stream Bank Erosion, Riparian Grazing techniques and monitoring, site selection to maximize profit and conservation programs and funding available from conservation partners. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED IF YOU…
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08Apr 2021 by lccd2

New Landowner Resource Concern Survey

310 Permits, Agriculture, Communication, Flooding, Forestry, Monitoring, Noxious Weeds, Planning, Plant materials, Pollinator, Programs, Water Quality
As part of our annual planning operations, the Conservation District has a new survey for landowners to report natural resource concerns to us.   Residents of Lewis and Clark County are asked to take this short survey, giving feedback on new concerns about our natural resources in the county or ongoing concerns.   The Conservation District will utilize the feedback we receive as we look at program development, budgeting,  collaboration with other partner organizations such as the NRCS, and in our planning revisions for our long-range-plan. Please take just a minute or so to fill this out for us!
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18May 2020 by lccd2

Spring Rain, Snowpack, Streams and Emergencies…

310 Permits, Flooding, Flooding Photos
Photo credit NRCS, 1964 near Augusta   With the upcoming spring storm predicted, I just want to remind everyone that there are avenues to take action in an emergency to keep you out of trouble with permitting agencies.   With the Conservation District, if life, crops or property are in immediate danger, action can be taken and an emergency notice should be filed with the CD within 15 days of doing the work. Photos before and after will be very helpful this year with the limits on contact with others.  Please know that a permit may be required to do further work that may be required to mitigate damages from work done in emergency situations.    Contact other permitting agencies for their emergency notification requirements.   If you are a…
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06Aug 2019 by lccd2

From Flooding to Fire

Flooding, Forestry, Noxious Weeds, Plant materials, Publications
It seems to be a typical transition anymore at the Conservation District.  My desk is a mountain of paperwork responding to spring/summer flooding--some even from last year! And now the hills are alive with the crackling of wildfires! Post fire concerns for landowners include--what else?--Flooding!  The organic material at the ground surface often burns in a fire, removing a layer of water absorbable materials, from duff and leaves, to the soil itself, depending on the heat from the fire.  Areas that burned primarily as tree/crown fires aren't generally as severely affected, but if there was a ground fire, especially if there was a lot of dead material (hello, beetle kill!) laying on the surface, there may be significant areas where the soil is affected. These bare areas will tend to…
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02Jul 2019 by lccd2

July Conservation District Board meeting and Local Work Group meeting

310 Permits, Budget, Flooding, Meeting Minutes, Meeting Notices, Meetings, NRCS, Planning, Programs
The next regular meeting of the Lewis & Clark Conservation District Board will be Thursday July 11, 2019 at the Helena Field Office, 790 Colleen Street, Helena MT.  The meeting will begin at 8:30 am.   Following the regular meeting, the Conservation District will convene the Lewis & Clark County Local Work Group to discuss long range planning for NRCS funding in the county.  That meeting will begin at 10:30 am. June meeting minutes July Meeting notice/agenda Local Work Group notice  
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13Jun 2019 by lccd2

Lewis and Clark Conservation District and County creating Augusta work group for flood mitigation efforts

Agriculture, Flooding
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  June 13, 2019 Contacts Chris Evans, Lewis and Clark Conservation District Administrator, 449-5000 x5, lccd@mt.net Susan Good Geise, Lewis and Clark County Commissioner, 447-8302, SGEISE@lccountymt.gov Helena -- The Lewis & Clark Conservation District, in coordination with Lewis and Clark County, will be pulling together a work group to evaluate and coordinate long-term flood mitigation measures to assist landowners around and in the community of Augusta.  The Conservation District and County will be reaching out to the State Departments of Resource and Conservation (DNRC), Transportation (MDT), Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) to be involved and assist in the coordination efforts. They will also be reaching out to landowners and other stakeholders. The goal is to address current and future damages to agricultural lands, public…
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04Jun 2019 by lccd2

Flood Information Needed

Agriculture, Cost Share, Flooding, Flooding Photos, Uncategorized
  The program that was utilized in 2018's Augusta flood event was through the Farm Service Agency, federal funds. There is a possibility that they will be able to do another sign up, but it's not assured.  Please contact the Helena FSA office at 406-449-5000 ext. 2 to let them know about losses of fencing etc. and also livestock losses (livestock losses within 30 days). The Conservation District is working with the State of Montana to try to find some disaster funding as well as the Disaster and Emergency Services people at the County to try to tie into the FEMA program. There will be teams in the Augusta area soon to look at damage and we're hoping to tie a request into that program for the agriculture folks. Which…
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12Jul 2018 by lccd2

Stream Permits and Emergencies

310 Permits, Flooding, Meetings
Not surprisingly, we're getting a lot of questions on these two topics right now.  Stream permits (the "310 permit") is required for any project work that affects the bed or banks of a perennial stream on private land, or on public land where the project is being done by a private, non-governmental entity (like bridges on National Forest land that are used to access the privately owned or leased cabins).  Conservation Districts are required by law to administer this program. In the event of emergencies, work can be done and an Emergency Notice can be filed after the fact.  People need to be aware though, that with this notice, further work may be required by the Conservation District to "fix" work done under the emergency.  The definition that we use…
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