Rain Barrel Workshop
Join Sun River Watershed Group for a Rain Barrel Workshop! Main location is the American Legion Park in Fairfield but if weather is not favorable, we will shift to the Community Hall across the street from the park.
Build, decorate, and learn to install & maintain your own rain barrel for home use. You'll also learn how rain barrels help conserve water, mitigate strain on municipal water supplies, and reduce nonpoint source pollution in our rivers and streams.
Tickets are required for this event, and we have a limited number of barrels. Register HERE
We provide barrels and hardware, instruction, paint and decorating supplies, and breakfast or lunch. Dress for MT weather and for getting dirty!
Pint Night and Rain Barrel Raffle
Join SRWG at Stein Haus for a pint night! From 5-8, they will donate $1 to SRWG for every pint sold.
We are also drawing the winner for this year's Trout Barrel, painted by local artist Lena Lyth. Drawing will be at 7 pm (don’t need to be present to win).
If you can’t make it to the pint night, you can still enter the raffle. Get your tickets HERE.
SRWG works to restore and protect the resources of the Sun River watershed and its communities. This is a charitable raffle to benefit SRWG, a 501c3 nonprofit
Get Outside! Journaling Day
Join us, and author Amy Grisak, on National Get Outdoors Day to visit Nilan Reservoir and spend time outside enjoying Montana's beautiful landscapes and wildlife. Our day will consist of lessons on journaling techniques and observation habits, free exploration and hiking time, and a group picnic. Amy will also be bringing a few copies of her books for purchase at the workshop.
We will be giving out journals to registered attendees and will have snacks, water jugs, and colored pencils to share. Please pack a lunch to bring for the picnic. Dress for Montana's ever changing spring weather and wear sturdy shoes for walking around. Pack sunscreen, sun hats, rain jackets, extra pencils, picnic blanket, and sunglasses.
This event is free, but spots are limited. Please register HERE.
There will be more information to come about the exact meeting locations and carpooling options. Hope to see you there! Feel free to contact madison@sunriverwatershed.org for more information or any questions you may have.
Suds for the Sun - Raise A Pint
Raise a Pint at Mighty Mo Brewing from 5-8 to support the Sun River Watershed Group! Meet our staff, some of our board members, and have some Suds for the Sun. We’ll be sharing information about upcoming events, projects, and more. Details to come.
Thanks to Mighty Mo Brewing for donating $1 to SRWG for each pint sold.
Weed Whacker Rodeo
Join us for the annual Weed Whacker Rodeo! Meet at the Beaver Creek Campground in Sun Canyon at 8:30. We will have instructions and information, then pull weeds until midday. Lunch provided.
Details for this year’s event to come.
Bashin' Trash River Cleanup
Clean up your favorite park, trail, section of river, or fishing access site on the Sun or Missouri River! Visit our webpage for a map and to join or create a team.
The main meetup point is Oddfellows Park - get your gloves, bags, and refreshments. This is also where you return your full trash bags. If you are working on the Missouri in the canyon or in Helena, there are alternate sites on our site.
Register for this free event HERE.
SRWG BBQ at the Ballpark
Join SRWG at the Voyagers game for our 5th annual BBQ at the Ballpark!
Details to come.
Freezout Lake Spent Ammo and Trash Pickup
Spend the day with SRWG picking up trash at Freezout Lake! We focus on spent ammo, but there’s lots of other garbage out there and we pick that up, too!
Meet at the FWP Lake WMA Headquarters off Hwy 89 between Fairfield and Choteau at 9 am. We end around noon. We have buckets and bags for trash, water for drinking, snacks for snacking. We have some light-duty gloves - if you have your own work gloves, it helps to bring them. Muck boots or waders are helpful but not necessary. Dress for Montana’s ever-changing spring weather - you may need anything from sunscreen to rain gear!
Winter RiverFest
Join Sun River Watershed Group and Missouri River Flyfishers for our biggest fundraiser of the year. We’re changing things up this year - we will be at the Great Falls Airport! And by popular demand, we are bringing back the silent auction! Musical guest this year is Tex-Montanan singer song-writer Tom Catmull. More information to come. Be sure to follow the event on Facebook.
SRWG Board Meeting and Elections
SRWG board meetings are open to the public.
Agenda and meeting information to come. Contact tracy@sunriverwatershed.org for details.
SRWG board meeting
Meetings of the Sun River Watershed Group’s board of directors are open to the public. The board meet on the third Thursday the first month of each quarter at 1 pm. Locations vary. Contact Tracy for an agenda or for more information.
2024 Fall Water Management Working Group Meeting
The fall meeting of the Sun River Water Management Working Group is open to the public. Meeting starts at 10 am and ends at 12:30. For those sticking around, lunch will be served, then the SRWG board meets at 1 pm and is also open to the public.
Meeting materials are located HERE.
Sun River Watershed Tour
Save the Date!
MWCC’s mission is to unite and support Montana’s watershed communities to promote healthy and productive landscapes. As we help connect land and water conservation partners throughout Montana, we also aim to provide inspiration and learning opportunities to Montana’s conservation and community leaders. Each biennium, MWCC works with local conservation partners to host a Fall Watershed Tour where participants gather, share, and learn. This year, we are partnering with the Sun River Watershed Group as they celebrate 30 years of restoring and protecting the Sun River watershed and its communities. We will travel from Great Falls toward the headwaters in the Bob Marshall Wilderness for three days of learning, peer exchanges, local storytelling, and on-the-ground project experiences that demonstrate the unique resources challenges and diverse conservation and partnership strategies implemented by local organizers across the region. With an anticipated audience of 80 attendees from across Montana, the event will allow opportunities for participants to connect and learn from practitioners, coordinators, and technical experts
Bashin' Trash River Cleanup
Join SRWG and partners to help clean up the Sun and Missouri Rivers! Pick your favorite park, trail, access site, or stretch of river, get some friends together, and spend the morning making our rivers better. Details to come. To join an existing team or learn more about Bashin’ Trash, click here.
BBQ at the Ballpark with SRWG
Come to our partner event and meet the folks who volunteer, partner with, and support SRWG!
Tickets are $7 (a $27 value!)
Includes your game ticket, reserved seating on SRWG’s private patio, and BBQ dinner (alcoholic beverages not included)
THANK YOU to our sponsor, First Interstate Bank!
Contact tracy@sunriverwatershed.org to get your ticket today. Tickets are NOT available through the Voyagers box office.
2024 Weed Whacker Rodeo
Join us for our annual Weed Whacker Rodeo in Sun Canyon. Sign in starts at 8:30. Details to come.
Rain Barrel Workshop
Join Sun River Watershed Group and Teton Conservation District for a Rain Barrel Workshop!
Build, decorate, and learn to install & maintain your own rain barrel for home use. You'll also learn how rain barrels help conserve water, mitigate strain on municipal water supplies, and reduce nonpoint source pollution in our rivers and streams.
Registration is $40. Reserve your spot today at https://www.sunriverwatershed.org/rain-barrel-workshops
We provide barrels and hardware, instruction, paint and decorating supplies, and light refreshments. Dress for MT weather and for getting dirty!
Raise A Pint with Sun River Watershed Group
Raise a pint for SRWG!
We have a lot going on this summer! Come to our pint night to learn more and to sign up to be a volunteer. More event info to come...
A portion of Mighty Mo's proceeds from 5-8pm will be donated to SRWG.
Bear Aware Workshop
Presented by FWP and Sun River Watershed Group
Come learn how to deter bear activity from your ranch and farm and get information on safely living and recreating in bear country. There will be a presentation by FWP Bear Biologists, followed by practice using bear spray (using inert spray).
Doors open at 6 pm. Presentation starts at 6:30.
Freezout Lake Spent Ammo and Trash Pickup
Save the date for the third annual cleanup at Freezout Lake!
We'll be looking for volunteers. Details to come.
Arbor Day Tree Planting
Exciting improvements are coming to Wadsworth Pond this year and you can help with the first phase of work! Join us for a day of tree planting this Arbor Day.
All tools will be provided. Bring drinking water, snacks, and sunscreen. Dress for crazy Montana spring weather.
Please RSVP to tracy@sunriverwatershed.org so we can make sure to have enough tools for everyone.
This project is possible thanks to a Tree Planting grant from DNRC
Spring Water Management Meeting
Join us for the spring Water Management Meeting, open to the public. Meeting materials will be posted here closer to the meeting date.
Meeting will be followed at 1 pm by the Sun River Watershed Group Board Meeting, which is also open to the public.
Winter RiverFest
Join us for the third annual Winter RiverFest. We are happy to welcome back 50 Watt Sun for the evening’s entertainment. We’ll have dinner, a live auction, and more. Individual tickets $50 at The Newberry box office or online. Tables $500, available only at The Newberry box office. Doors open at 5 pm.
Event will include:
Buffet Dinner
Raffles
NEW THIS YEAR: Dessert Auction
Live Art and Trip Auction
Live Music from 50 Watt Sun
and more.
Contact tracy@sunriverwatershed.org about sponsorship opportunities
Co-hosted with the Missouri River Flyfishers Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
SRWG Quarterly Board Meeting
SRWG board meetings are open to the public.
We will meet at Jakers small private dining room for lunch (no host) from 12-1pm
Board meeting starts at 1 pm and should be done around 3 pm.
Bashin' Trash River Cleanup
Come help clean up the Missouri and Sun Rivers! We’ll have volunteers in Helena, Great Falls, Fort Benton, and on the rivers in between. Details coming soon…
Low-tech Stream Restoration Workshop
Join us for a workshop about low-tech process-based restoration! You'll learn about these restoration strategies, project objectives, and help build low-tech structures.
This event is FREE! Lunch will be provided.
Event is a great opportunity for landowners, permitting entities, and funding agencies to learn more and get hands-on experience with these low-cost, low-tech restoration techniques. Attendees will meet in Augusta or Choteau at 8:30 and carpool to the site. For more details or to RSVP, please contact morganm@onemontana.org or emily@sunriverwatershed.org
Volunteers Needed for Stream Restoration materials gathering
We'll be gathering and hauling materials, like willows and rocks, to support prairie stream restoration projects. We need folks to volunteer August 10-13: come out for a day, overnight, or for the whole weekend! Location is near Sun Canyon. Space is limited, so specific details/location will be available only to those who register.
We'll be meeting for dinner in Choteau on Thursday and going to the campsite together. Volunteers will be camping, need to bring their own food and water, need sturdy boots, and ideally a truck or 4x4 as the roads are all gravel. We will be working in grizzly bear country. Location will be near Pishkun Reservoir/Sun Canyon. To register, please email emily@sunriverwatershed.org or morganm@onemontana.org
Weed Whacker Rodeo
This year is the 25th Anniversary of the Sun Canyon Weed Whacker Rodeo!
Please join us in for a day of weed control and fun! We’ll have the usual BBQ and prize drawing, and hopefully some fun extras to help celebrate the anniversary of this popular event. Check back here and on Facebook for details.
BBQ at the Ballpark
Join SRWG at the Voyagers game! Thanks to our sponsor, Clearwater Credit Union, we are able to sell the first 30 tickets for just $6 each! Each ticket includes access to our reserved patio during the game and a backyard BBQ dinner.
Get tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/srwg-bbq-at-the-ballpark-registration-622562680737?aff=oddtdtcreator
Suds for the Sun - Raise a Pint
Join SRWG at Mighty Mo Brewery! We will be announcing winners of our Predict the Peak contest, and we’ll tell you how you could win a kayak just for volunteering with SRWG. Bring all your thirsty friends - Mighty Mo will donate $1 to SRWG for every pint sold between 5 and 8 pm.
Freezout Spent Ammo and Trash Cleanup
Looking for volunteers to help clean up Freezout Lake! We'll be picking up last season's spent ammo, garbage, and anything else we find that doesn't belong there. Volunteers will need rubber boots or muck boots. Waders are helpful, but not necessary. Dress appropriately for unpredictable, Montana spring weather.
If you have a bucket and work gloves, bring them. We'll have a few to loan out as well. We will provide trash bags. Please RSVP to tracy@sunriverwatershed.org or morgan@mtwf.org so we have an idea how many people to have supplies ready for.
Winter RiverFest
Join SRWG and the Missouri River Flyfishers for a night of fun at The Newberry in downtown Great Falls. We will have live auctions, raffles, bottomless beers, catering by Enbar, and live music by El Wencho. Tickets are on sale now at The Newberry box office (420 Central in Great Falls) or online.
This is a fundraiser for the Missouri and Sun Rivers.
SRWG Board Meeting
The winter meeting of the Sun River Watershed group is open to the public.
The meeting will be preceded by a Project Workshop, which starts at noon and is also open to the public.
If you would like to join via Zoom, please contact Tracy for a link.
SRWG Fall Board Meeting
The Sun River Watershed Group board of directors will meet October 26 at 1 pm, following the SR Water Management Working Group meeting. This meeting will occur at the Fairfield Ambulance Training Center with an option to Zoom. This meeting is open to the public. Board meeting documents will be uploaded here by end of day Friday, October 21.
Fall Water Management Working Group Meeting
Meeting agenda and materials will be posted soon - check back here.
Sun River fall water management meeting will be held at the Fairfield Ambulance Training Center at 10 am. Lunch and SRWG Board meeting to follow at 12:30. Both meetings are open to the public.
Bashin' Trash River Clean Up
Join us for another year of Bashin’ Trash on the Missouri and Sun Rivers. More information can be found here and on the Bashin’ Trash Facebook page.