Let It Grow: Brosten farm planting project controls erosion

Some things grow on you.

Helping others is one thing that is growing on Kirstin Gruver, a recent University of Washington graduate.

Gruver, an Americorps volunteer working with the Big Sky Watershed Corps, was one of about 12 volunteers who planted 375 tree and shrub seedlings along the Flathead River last Thursday. Volunteers from various organizations worked together on the planting project on Lower Valley Road. The project is part of a conservation easement that land owners Jerry Brosten and Aileen Brosten put on for their 192-acre property in 2011. As part of the easement the Brostens agreed to provide a 100-foot buffer along their 1 1/2 miles of riverfront property and plant it with native plants.

Gruver, 24, joined the Big Sky Watershed Corps — a Montana affiliate of Americorps — in January. She coordinated the planting project, which is the first of seven at the Brostens’ riverfront property. Gruver was excited about the project because she said it will help reduce erosion along the banks of the Flathead River.

Among the organizations involved in the planting included another Americorps affiliate, the Montana Conservation Corps, along with the Flathead Lakers, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the U.S. Natural Resources and Conservation Service. All are River to Lake Initiative partners.

The trees and shrubs planted by the crew include aspen, cottonwood, dogwood, water birch, willow, Engelmann spruce, golden currant and Woods’ rose shrub. This was first planting of the year for the River to Lake Initiative. There were 25 such plantings last year, Gruver said. “It’s great to see this many people show up to help,” Aileen Brosten said.

The Brostens purchased the 375 trees and shrubs for $1 a piece, and that money will be refunded to them as part of their conservation easement with the Flathead Land Trust. The trees and shrubs were purchased from a Department of Natural Resources and Conservation nursery in Missoula, according to NRCS conservationist Angel Rosario.

The Brostens signed the easement to ensure that their farmland stays in agriculture production. The Brostens still own the land and will continue to farm it and run their Diamond B Weddings business there. The Brosten property was homesteaded around 1900 by Jerry’s great-great grandfather, Otis Papendick. It has been farmed ever since. As with many other conservation easements, the Brostens’ easement has terms that allow for a small part of the land to be sold for developing one homesite, but it is mostly restricted to traditional agricultural uses. The Bonneville Power Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm and Ranch Protection Program and Travelers for Open Lands, a tourist-related funding mechanism, helped to purchase the conservation easement, according to Ryan Hunter with Flathead Land Trust.