Editor’s note: The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) is committed to ensuring Montana’s land and water resources provide benefits for present and future generations. This story was originally published in January 2025 by the DNRC as part of the agency’s series of Montana Forest Action Plan project highlights. To learn more about the Forest Action Plan and read about other projects, visit DNRC’s Montana Forest Action Plan page. All images in this blog post are credited to the DNRC.
Willow Creek flows eight miles from Meagher County’s Castle Mountains toward the town of White Sulphur Springs. The tributary passes through Townsend Ranch on its way, providing water for Trent Townsend’s cattle year-round.
However, Willow Creek does not currently supply potable water for White Sulphur Springs. The town relied solely on treated, gravity-fed water from the Castles for decades and retains partial water rights to the creek. But, after a series of unforeseen failures of the watershed containment infrastructure 15 years ago, the town drilled two wells to supply safe water to its residents.
Around the same time, much of the Castle Mountains – particularly on the Townsend Ranch – was hit by a mountain pine beetle outbreak. The infestation killed as many as 70-80% of lodgepole pine. This loss left behind dead trees and forest debris, significantly increasing wildfire risk.
Townsend, a fourth-generation Montanan, knows the stakes are high. If a wildfire were to ignite in the nearby forest, it would have devastating consequences on the Willow Creek watershed. A single storm event following a high severity fire could introduce large amounts of soils and debris to the creek, fumbling the town’s forthcoming plans to restore the water source amid increasingly dry summers.
Recognizing the risks to the Willow Creek watershed and the surrounding area, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) helped initiate the White Sulphur Springs project in late 2023. Local leaders from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the DNRC collaborated to address the urgent need for forest health improvements near Willow Creek.
“Partnerships are essential to landscape-scale work like this, where the issue crosses public-private boundaries,” said Jenney Paddock, NRCS district conservationist with the White Sulphur Springs Field Office, echoing a strategy of Montana’s Forest Action Plan. “Inviting the landowner to be part of the planning process is critical to the success of the project. However, inviting the landowner may not have been successful without the options and support that all of the partners bring to the table.”
Each partner plays a specific and important role in the White Sulphur Springs project, agrees Helen Smith, USFS district ranger with the Belt Creek-White Sulphur Springs Ranger District. The NRCS kickstarted the project by connecting Townsend to the other agencies, while the USFS addressed access barriers. DNRC stepped up as project lead and provided funding from HB 883, a bill passed in the 2023 Montana legislative session that increased funding toward projects aimed at reducing wildfire risk and improving forest health. The town of White Sulphur Springs and Meagher County Planning Board continually express support.
Working alongside its partners, DNRC outlined key objectives: remove hazardous fuels and decrease the potential for severe wildfire behavior within the White Sulphur Springs municipal watershed, including Townsend’s property and adjacent lands.
“It’s a great project that will help out the town’s water supply, plus mitigate fire danger,” Townsend said. “I truly appreciate the state for stepping in by completing and funding the work.”
Natural fire cycles help maintain healthy conditions by reducing ladder and surface fuel loads. However, the forests within the Willow Creek municipal watershed are unnaturally dense due to early 20th-century wildfire suppression policies. Coupled with fallen lodgepole pine in the foothills and Douglas-fir encroachment near the creek, the area exhibits extreme fire behavior conditions.
To address this, DNRC and partners aim to return the project area to a high frequency, low severity fire regime through a targeted management prescription. This plan includes treating 46 acres divided into three units with varying forest composition and slope. Crew will thin trees by hand or mechanically with logging equipment, and the resulting slash will be either burned in piles or utilized for forest products offsite.
Before work began, the USFS resolved a significant barrier: accessing the project site on Townsend’s property required crossing a small portion of an Inventory Roadless Area, an undeveloped environment protected from outside access. Resource specialists assessed the area, and Smith issued a special use permit for temporary access on an old, existing road to minimize human impact.
Once access was secured, DNRC Helena Unit’s Kyle Harrington, service forester, and Adam Blythe, unit manager, physically marked the boundaries of the Streamside Management Zone (SMZ) – a buffer along each side of a stream, lake, or other body of water within a project site. By law, work is managed in this zone to protect water quality and fish and wildlife habitat. Harrington also marked a wetland area as a voluntary protection.
“DNRC’s mission is to manage our forests responsibly, protecting our resources in the present and in the future. Our forest practices reflect that mission,” Harrington said. “In finding these critical SMZ areas, we’re protecting biodiversity and providing benefits for the forest as a whole.”
In fall 2024, contracted hand crews thinned trees and cleared small woody debris, stacking it into neat slash piles in open areas. These slash piles will be left to dry out for at least one season before being burned when conditions are safe. The crew worked efficiently and adhered to Best Management Practice (BMP) guidelines.
Mechanical thinning in the remaining two units will follow in spring 2025, led by Tyler Myrstol, owner and operator of Myrstol Logging in White Sulphur Springs. Myrstol will salvage as much timber as possible to reduce the cost of the work and support the state’s forest products industry.
The White Sulphur Springs project area is 46 acres total. Townsend and Blythe agree: The impact of strategic management of those acres is huge.
“Forty-six acres of the 3,000 total acres within the watershed seems like a drop in the bucket,” Townsend said. “But it’s a significant area with rippling, positive effects for the watershed.”
The ripples have already formed. The USFS plans to expand more hand piling and pile burning upstream in the next few years to better protect the town’s water source. The DNRC is confident all forest management efforts in the Castles will improve overall forest health while reducing risk of high-severity wildfire and watershed contamination.
“This collaborative project is a step in the right direction,” Blythe said. “The watershed is a very important resource for White Sulphur Springs, and this work ensures it remains protected for generations to come.”
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