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An Minor Expedition to Protect the Cottonwoods

By Mary Jones

Over the many years Glenn Monahan and Nancy Schultz have taken an active role to preserve the cottonwoods along the Wild and Scenic Missouri River. Every summer they float sections of the river carrying clients through the Monument.

Nancy wrapping fence around cottonwood They have seen the large old trees succumb to hungry beavers which cannot find smaller species to eat, watched as cottonwood saplings are browsed by larger animals, and witnessed the lack of spring flooding because of dams and dry years; flooding which deposits new seed and nourishes existing saplings. Though the couple cannot do anything about the dams that reduce spring flooding nor control the weather which has brought drier years, they can do something about the beaver damage. It is a place to start in controlling the demise of the Missouri River cottonwoods. Without some action, cottonwood forests along the Missouri River will cease to exist and Glenn and Nancy cannot stand by without at least trying to save some trees.

Nancy asked if the Friends of the Missouri Breaks Monument would help with a project to fence some of the remaining cottonwoods in key areas along the river. I agreed to help as the project would be limited to only two or three people able to canoe and carry wire.

We met Glenn and about 12 of his clients at Coal Banks Landing August 6. This was the group we’d try to start and end each day with, giving us an opportunity to have our food catered as well as company when our project for the day ended. Nancy and I spent each day of our trek down the river putting camouflaged chicken wire around numerous cottonwoods from Coal Banks to the PN Bridge. Glenn’s clients, professionals from around the United States, found the project interesting and expressed concern that the ancient trees were not being replaced. They asked many questions and were very interested in conditions which were causing the slow reduction of these trees.

Nancy and I worked for three blisteringly hot days until our supply of wire ran out. Since there were many trees still in need, we tentatively scheduled another day, August 17, to continue our work. The feasibility of that day depended on the possibility of our getting the BLM to boat us, and our kayaks, up about 20 miles and dropping off wiring at key sites along the way.

Through the good graces of Chad Krause, BLM resource specialist, and Aurora, his assistant, we were met at the PN Bridge at 8 am and shuttled up to our starting point, leaving the rolls of wire at key sites.

Thursday, August 17, was not a dry day. We had rain going up the river which managed to get most of our gear damp. We had a lull in the rain as we worked on our first set of trees and as we got into our kayaks, a deluge – the whole works, thunder, lightning, and drenching rain that lasted about half an hour hit us. My inflatable kayak filled so I had to stop and dump it a few times. The lightning got very close so we both stopped on a close island and waited. Finally, we were able to get to our next site miles downstream, wrapped the trees in relatively mild weather, and then decided we’d head back to the PN Bridge that evening rather than camp. We were wet and our gear was wet.

We left one cottonwood site to be wired by Nancy and Glenn Labor Day weekend and headed back to the boat ramp. By the time we made it, the day was getting dark and we were pretty tired, wet and sore. We did a lot of trees and felt very good about that effort, but all we really cared about at the end of that day was a hot bath.

For more information, visit Glenn and Nancy's website: Upper Missouri River Guides

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