KRTV

Posted: Mar 11, 2010 11:54 AM
Updated: Mar 12, 2010 9:33 AM

April Senger, a science teacher at Great Falls High School, spent time with some of her students on Thursday to work with several local agencies on an ecology project at the Meadowlark Country Club.

The project is known as streambank stabilization, and Senger refers to it as an encapsulated willow lift.

The bioengineering effort is aimed at restoring the river bank along the golf course at the country club.

For years, old cars have lined the banks, and river recreation has caused much of the bank to erode.

The project is helping restore the banks by planting native vegetation like willow trees which will reduce possible erosion better than man-made objects

Jo Christensen of the Bureau of Land Management said, "Restoring the river is a big job, you know, you have some heavy equipment. We definitely got some funding behind the project, we have a lot of technical expertise, but it really comes down to people that care about the river, getting out on the ground, a lot of this requires hand labor."

The total project will take about four days, and results are expected to show in about seven weeks.

Also participating in the project were several volunteers from Malmstrom Air Force Base.