In December 2012, Five Valleys Land Trust—a Missoula-based nonprofit organization that has helped to protect more than 65,000 acres in western Montana—acquired 205 acres of ranch land where Rock Creek, one of the state’s renowned blue-ribbon trout streams, flows into the Clark Fork River. This parcel, which was originally slated for a 36-home subdivision, will now be permanently protected, and the confluence of these two streams will be opened to the public for fishing for the very first time.

On this Hero for a Day workday, volunteers from the land trust’s Hands on the Land program, the Hellgate Hunters & Anglers club, local chapters of Trout Unlimited, and the community will create a 4- to 6-vehicle parking area near the new access point by installing a fence, a livestock gate, and signage. They will plant willow cuttings to stabilize the streambank and revive riparian habitat that has been historically overgrazed. Volunteers will also remove trash, debris, and old barbed wire fencing.