Take it from the parent of a four year old: not everyone feels compelled to stay on the trails and designated access points of our public lands and waterways. But everyone who cares about the future of river access should aim to, because when you combine unmanaged access—or failure to follow management recommendations—with an increased number of visitors, sites begin to degrade, resulting in conditions that compromise the ecological health and recreational appeal of our favorite places.

Beyond heavy and careless recreational use, river access sites can degrade for other reasons too. For example, severe flooding during spring runoff in 2022 eroded the streambank at Greek Creek Campground in Gallatin Canyon, which accelerated the streambank erosion that was already happening. This prompted the Gallatin River Task Force and the U.S. Forest Service, which manages the campground, to take their long-standing restoration plan for Greek Creek to the next phase. Just like the squeaky wheel gets the grease, the rapidly eroding streambank gets the willows.

This bioengineered streambank and riparian plantings will reduce sediment and improve water quality, improve fish and wildlife habitat, reduce water temperature through shading, and improve soil quality.

The goals of the greater Gallatin River Restoration Strategy are to repair the existing natural resource degradation and prevent further damage at 91 sites along the entire 39 mile stretch of the Upper Gallatin corridor. Special  focus will be on sustainable access and restoration approaches that mimic the natural systems of the river. The cost to complete the restoration projects identified in the strategy lands at around $3.5 million, with funding coming from both public and private sources. More than $1 million has already been invested in the restoration work.

In order to make this ambitious plan a reality, Kathryn Barker from the U.S. Forest Service believes that the partnership is key. “Working collaboratively with groups like the Gallatin River Task Force helps us establish sustainable river access points that maintain the availability of recreation, and also reduce the negative effects of dispersed use on the watershed,” she said.

The installation of a rock terrace will provide designated river access.

Previously successful restoration projects at Moose Creek, Deer Creek and on the Middle Fork show us that this approach works. The Greek Creek project uses a combination of low tech process based restoration techniques to protect the riparian buffer and slow the flow of water. Maintenance of flow and vegetation will maximize the ecological benefits, as will sustainable access elements that direct foot traffic to designated hardened spaces along the river. The plan even includes an outhouse upgrade.

Jeff Dunn, water resource specialist at WGM Group, the engineering firm that designed the project at Greek Creek and is leading the implementation phase, is committed to restoring the natural processes there. “Streambanks do erode, but if they have healthy vegetation, they erode slowly, naturally. When the vegetation is removed for whatever reason, then they’re much more prone to erosion, which adds sediment to the stream.”

BDAs will slow water flow during spring runoff and flood events, trap and convert nutrients and other pollutants, and increase habitat variety and water surface area, leading to better biological diversity.

There are other benefits of this bioengineered streambank, too. Adding vegetation—in this case, willows—back to the streambank also increases shade and cover for fish and creates habitat and a food source for macroinvertebrates, like the salmonfly, songbirds and even ungulates like moose.

Dunn also explained how using low-tech process based techniques like beaver dam analogs and post assisted log structures are critical. “We’ve installed BDAs on the flood plain at Greek Creek so that during large flood events they’ll be able to trap sediment and slow the flow of water as it moves across the floodplain.”

The benefits of the PALS placed at the entrance to overflow channels are similar. “The PALS are also designed to slow the flow, and have the added benefit of providing fish habitat and refugia where fish can conglomerate during high water,” he noted.

PALs will create upstream ponds, force flow to split, create eddies, alter erosion and deposit patterns, increase channel-floodplain connectivity, improve wildlife habitat, and increase biodiversity.

Construction of the bioengineered streambank, BDAs, PALS, and installation of a rock terrace and updated outhouse will be completed this fall. Additional riparian planting will take place in the spring. For more on this project, visit this webpage

This post originally appeared in Explore Big Sky. Robin Fedock is the Communications and Marketing Manager for the Gallatin River Task Force.