
backcountry stream corps
2023 Crew Member Applications are now closed.
If you have any questions about the application or want more details about the program
please email Stephie Novak.
MEET OUR PREVIOUS BACKCOUNTRY STREAM CORPS CREWS!

The crew headed out for the day after surveying through Grant Creek

Stephie and Trevor discuss the size of a piece of wood, while Milo and Evan move around for a better look

WEN 2022 Backcountry Stream Corps

The crew headed out for the day after surveying through Grant Creek

Summer Program for High School Students
Each spring WEN seeks high school-aged (15-18 years of age) individuals who like to ride bikes and are interested in working outdoors in our Missoula backcountry creeks become part of a 6 member crew during the summer.
Students spend two weeks with WEN exploring and learning about the importance of a healthy watershed through stream monitoring on Rattlesnake and Grant Creek.
Training includes stream monitoring procedures, GPS 101, Leave No Trace principles, and safety gear.
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Indigenous land acknowledgment and Native American cultural connections are an integral part of each day.


The BCSC program has spent 2 weeks getting up close and personal with our Missoula backcountry creeks for the past 3 summers. Starting in Rattlesnake Creek, crews rode bikes up past Pilcher Creek and hopped into waders to explore beaver ponds and count large woody debris in the stream. The next year the BCSC crew completed the remaining parts of Rattlesnake Creek, and finalized a wood overview of the creek. This left an opportunity for BCSC students to expand this year into Grant Creek and conduct not only wood surveys, but also some of our Stream Team protocols. All the while BCSC crews have been refueling with tasty donated lunches from local businesses.

Applications are now closed
Program runs late July and early August:
Check back next year for 2024 dates
Qualifications:
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Experienced mountain bikers - we bike with our gear to the sites (3-6 miles daily!)
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Enjoy walking/hiking
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Comfortable in a stream/river (knee depth)
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Good at following directions, completing tasks and working collaboratively as part of a team.
Stipends:
Crew members are paid a stipend of $200 at the end of the two weeks.
WEN welcomes, embraces and respects the diversity of all people, identities, and cultures and we encourage anyone interested in the outdoors to apply!
Please email water@montanawatershed.org

I Know Rattlesnake Creek
2021 BCSC Crew
The city lowered our standards,
so the nature blew us away.
Thinking of foliage, the water,
and smells to this day.
Cobblestone streets,
underneath the ripples,
walking through beaver ponds,
getting lost in riddles.
The riddles of the cottonwoods,
dogwoods
and mock-orange.
I know Rattlesnake Creek,
cause we've been here for weeks.
Mountains rise to the sky,
fauna comes within sight.
My eye hurts so good,
but let's keep looking for wood!
I know Rattlesnake Creek.
