Our backcountry restoration crew has been working in the Kelly Creek area for over a decade, and we need your help to figure out if our treatment efforts are effective. Autumn is a beautiful time to visit Kelly Creek, one of the most wild and remote areas of the Great Burn Recommended Wilderness. The area is home to blue ribbon trout streams and abundant wildlife, and our restoration work directly improves the wild character of the area. 

To help target treatment, GBCA utilizes Line Point Intercept monitoring. Volunteers will assist the Restoration Program Director in completing two blocks of transects located in Hanson Meadows. This will provide great plant ID practice!

This trip is rated as moderate to strenuous in difficulty. Monitoring is a long process and each block will take 3-5 hours.

**All volunteer trips are subject to change due to ever changing fire activity.

Itinerary:

Day 1 | Volunteers will carpool to Kelly Creek TH and hike to Hanson Meadows via trail 567. Set up basecamp and relax! 12 mi, Elevation gain: 1774 ft, Elevation loss: 1276 ft

Day 2 | Both monitoring plots are located in Hanson Meadows near our camp, so we’ll get to work in the morning on the first plot. There will also be some time to explore or fish Kelly Creek. 

Day 3 | Same as the day before, but we will complete the second monitoring plot just west of camp. Again, there will also be time to explore the Kelly Creek area in the afternoon.

Day 4 | Break down camp and hike out via trail 567. Return to Missoula.

Great Burn Conservation Alliance trips are FREE. Each volunteer will be required to make a 100% refundable deposit to secure a trip spot. The cost of the deposit is $50, which will be returned if you cancel at least 3 weeks before your scheduled trip or once you attend the trip.  A lot of planning goes into these trips, and we need to make sure you’re committed! If you are unable to make a deposit, please reach out to Hayley@greatburn.org