SAM WILSON

LOLO CREEK

In just a few weeks, excavators will chop through the last tract of dirt separating a half-mile stretch of Lolo Creek from a recently-constructed streambed, restoring the stream's flow to its natural channel after a decades-long absence.

The stream restoration project between Lolo Hot Springs and the turnoff to the Jack Saloon is a collaboration between the Forest Service and Trout Unlimited.

On Tuesday, excavators operated by workers with Missoula-based Timberland Excavating were busy moving earth and reconstructing the last stretch of the historic stream bed at the Earl Tennant Campground. A stone's throw away, Lolo Creek rushed by, running fast and straight along its artificial channel next to Highway 12.

Many years earlier, the creek had been pushed aside to

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