Our nonprofit coalition has quickly become a resource and a catalyst to protect the watershed while improving the quality of life. The Thompson Chain of Lakes Stewardship Coalition provides leadership within our rural unincorporated community. We are building resources that will contribute to the vitality of this region for years to come.

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• Our group took legal action against elected officials for their approval of a large high density commercial development near 3 of the most sensitive spring fed lakes in the Chain of Lakes. Widescale commmunity opposition to the project is based on concerns of groundwater contamination, (many get their drinking water from the lakes), unmitigable impacts on health of the nearby kettle lakes, public health and safety and the fact that the Thompson Chain of Lakes Neighborhood Plan, and the Maps developed by many stakeholders in the area and signed by the County Commissioners, specifically prohibited commercial RV Parks in that area. Unfortunately, when our negotiation efforts and massive citizen outcry failed, our group took legal action to hold elected decision makers accountable to Montana State Law that requires substantial consideration of a Neighborhood Plan (see plan and the maps in links above or in the downloadable documents below). 

 

• We launched a Citizens Action Network to protect the lakes, watershed, and open spaces of the area we love. This network is designed to inform citizens on important bills before the Montana State Legislature. We provide aid and encouragement to write and call legislators and to write letters to the editor and opinion pieces in local newspaper.

 

• There is a lack of water quality data to assess the current health of TCL water bodies. We are working to remedy that through our Aquatic Initiative. Now in our 4th year, through a grant from the Whitefish Lake Institute, we train and provide equipment to volunteer “citizen scientists” to regularly monitor and document water temperature, clarity, and invasive species. We have volunteers gathering data on several of the 18 lakes of the Thompson Chain of Lakes. The data our “citizen scientists” gather is uploaded to a statewide scientific database for further review and analysis. The data provides valuable ongoing aquatics information for state and local officials as well as for concerned climate change and environmental groups.

 

• Aquifer Study – as we all watch water levels drop accross Montana and the West, our members have volunteered their wells and lakefronts for monitoring by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology as they conduct an independent hydrological scientific study to determine water recharge, quality, flow systems to understand the aquifers in the area that feed the chain of lakes. This will provide important baseline aquifer data. We hope the results will be available in the next 3-4 years and will provide a map of the aquifers and needed information for the community, property owners and decision makers. We will all better understand the cummulative affects of development on the aquifers we all depend on.