Federal agencies will be spending $865,000 dollars to help restore Helena’s primary watershed.
The Ten-Mile watershed lies just southwest of the Capitol city and provides 80 percent of the community’s drinking water.
The restoration is one of 13 projects across the country announced this week by the US Department of Agriculture, in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service.
USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Bonnie unveiled the $30 million dollar partnership in Helena.
He sat down with Capitol Reporter Dan Boyce to speak about the project, which is part of a national strategy to help address the impacts of climate change.
"We've got significant bark beetle dead trees in the (Ten-Mile) watershed. It’s a critical watershed in the city of Helena, so there’s a real need to do work here and work both on the public lands and the private lands."--Robert Bonnie