On June 7th, the Council met for an eye-opening tour of the Crooked Creek Recreation Area in north Petroleum County. The site is situated on the furthest upstream reach of the reservoir created by the Fort Peck Dam. Currently, the reservoir water level is about 28 feet below normal. Where once there was a reservoir and an economic opportunity, now there are only weeds. During our tour, Petroleum County Weed Supervisor Clint Clark discovered Saltcedar growing in the now-empty reservoir bed. Saltcedar, also known as Tamarisk, is a noxious weed that infests most of the areas between the high water mark and the Text Box: water level along the reservoir. Saltcedar not only chokes out native plants by consuming large amounts of water, it also makes the soil uninhabitable by dropping leaves with a high saline content, thereby increasing the salinity of the soil. Our tour emphasized the negative impacts that Learning more about Saltcedar at the Crooked Creek Recreation Site. Photo by Council Member John Chase.