Flathead Rivers Alliance seeks a part-time Development Coordinator to join Team River!

Flathead Rivers Alliance (FRA) and partners have begun Phase II of improving American Disability Act (ADA) accessibility on the Three Forks of the Flathead Wild and Scenic River thanks to a $30,411 grant through the Flathead National Forest and the Flathead Resource Advisory Committee (RAC). The goal of this project is to provide those living with a disability more direct access to, and benefits stemming from, our natural resources.

The 2023 Flathead Waters Cleanup event returned Saturday, August 12th, 2023. This event brought together over 123 agency, organization and community member representatives in an all day volunteer event to not only cleanup trash, but celebrate the region’s incredible waterways. Participants removed over 2,066 LBS of trash improving 66 miles of riverbank and lakeshore.

Flathead Rivers Alliance and Flathead National Forest partnered to pilot wilderness River Ambassador program at Granite Cabin, on Middle Fork Flathead River in the Great Bear Wilderness. This blog post is a journal capturing the River Ambassador’s experience and observations during their volunteer week-long trip.

With the help of generous donors, the Glacier Conservancy is utilizing a match from the Flathead National Forest and Flathead Rivers Alliance to co-sponsor a Big Sky Watershed Corps internship to support the river system. This intern supports visitor engagement, coordinates volunteers for monitoring surveys, monitors water quality, assists with the development of educational tools and materials, and conducts river user data analyses. Sunshine Flamer, the intern selected for 2023, is a member of the Big Sky Watershed Corps and is part of the AmeriCorps program.

Flathead Rivers Alliance was thrilled to get River Weed Rodeo volunteers back in rafts for 2023, after last year’s late peak flow that prevented volunteers from floating during one-day event. Brenda Guzman the mastermind behind the River Weed Rodeo on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River since 2003 successfully coordinated 165+ volunteers, a record number of volunteers, for the event.

Flathead Rivers Alliance will leverage Whitefish Community Foundation Community Grant to purchase Flathead Basin Reusable Water Cleanup Bag Stations with Leave No Trace Messaging in partnership with the Montana Waters Clearly Connected campaign.

Flathead Rivers Alliance for the first time teamed up with Wild Montana’s Flathead-Kootenai Chapter Saturday, April 22nd, to celebrate 2023 Earth Day. Fourteen eager volunteers gave their time cleaning up several fishing access sites along the Flathead River ahead of the float season including; House of Mystery, Blankenship, Glacier Rim, West Glacier.

Flathead Rivers Alliance (FRA) announces 2023 River Ambassador and River Recreation/Citizen Scientist volunteer program trainings ahead of float season to enhance river safety, stewardship and citizen science, on the Three Forks of the Flathead River.

Where river water levels were receding and all of the garbage and debris along the river banks came into full and horrifying view. I knew I wanted to further my knowledge and dedicate my senior project to our local Flathead River Management. So, I reached out to Flathead River Alliance and spoke with Sheena.

Formed in 2019, Flathead Rivers Alliance has established itself in a short time as the standard bearer for conservation and stewardship of the three forks of the Flathead River. We understand the magnitude and privilege it is to boost stewardship, education and community surrounding the river system that inspired the passage of the National Wild & Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. Our ability to bring a diverse group of individuals, agencies, local businesses and conservation organizations has resulted in several significant accomplishments.

Flathead Rivers Alliance and Flathead Conservation District made inaugural float appearance during Columbia Falls annual Night of Lights Parade.

This project assesses barriers and prioritizes opportunities to improve ADA Accessibility of river access sites for individuals with disabilities, on the Middle and North Forks of the Flathead Wild and Scenic River. Access sites currently meet limited to no ADA Accessibility standards. We are working collaboratively with DREAM Adaptive, Flathead National Forest, Glacier National Park, Jackola Engineering, and advocates and individuals with disabilities and organizations (nonprofits and outfitters) facilitating experiences for this project.

The 2022 Flathead Waters Cleanup event returned Saturday, August 13th, 2022. This event brought together over 210 agency, organization and community member representatives in an all day volunteer event to not only cleanup trash, but celebrate the region’s incredible waterways. Participants removed over 5,100 LBS of trash improving 140 miles of riverbank and lakeshore.

The health of the three forks of the Flathead River can’t be dependent on one organization. It takes recognizing all stakeholders and involving them in the process. Flathead Rivers Alliance hosted a July 28th partner float with a focus on water quality and will host additional meetings and workshops to ensure there is proper analysis of whose on the landscape, whose doing what, what data are we missing, and capture priorities for short and long term monitoring and success in ensuring the health of the watershed.

Brenda Guzman has been the mastermind behind the River Weed Rodeo on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River since 2003 and she remains the dedicated event organizer going forward. The Weed Rodeo is a noxious weed pulling event that includes private volunteers combined with commercial rafting outfitters, government organizations, non-profits and local businesses to hand pull weeds along our beautiful river corridor.

Flathead Rivers Alliance Board President, attended Whitefish Community Foundation 's June 7th Award Ceremony and accepted on Flathead Rivers Alliance’s behalf the 2022 Jean and Bill Howard Memorial Award along with $5,000.