Flathead Lake station meets $1 million funding goal

The University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station has exceeded its $1 million goal to match a lake-monitoring challenge grant.

In late 2011, the Biological Station began a three-year campaign to raise a $1 million endowment to match a pledge from an anonymous donor for its Flathead Lake Research and Monitoring Program. Hundreds of families, foundations and businesses came through with gifts large and small.

“This incredible generosity will help protect the quality of Flathead Lake’s water for years to come,” Director Jack Stanford said in a press release. “Our team of faculty, staff and students gives a heartfelt thanks to the community and everyone who donated and made this possible.”

Biological station scientists specialize in ecological research and education with an emphasis on freshwater, particularly Flathead Lake and its watershed. Their research and monitoring provide a continuous record of lake conditions needed to understand and protect the lake and reveal threats before they become problems.

Actor John Lithgow owns a Flathead Lake home and actively supports the work of biological station.

“At a time of deep concern for the Earth’s fragile environment, the Flathead Lake Biological Station continues to do a magnificent job monitoring the Flathead’s complex water system,” Lithgow said in a prepared statement. “All of us who treasure this beautiful lake owe the station a great and ongoing debt of gratitude.”

The research program depends almost entirely upon grants and gifts. Faculty and staff are forging ahead on the next set of priorities for community support. Current projects for which they seek funding include:

 LakeNET, the environmental sensor network around Flathead Lake, which provides real-time weather and water data to Flathead Lake residents and recreationists.

 The development and application of an environmental DNA test for aquatic invasive species. The test will allow researchers to rapidly determine from a water sample whether invasive species have reached Flathead Lake and other water bodies in Montana.

  Continued ecological discovery at the Biological Station’s long-term flood-plain research site, the Nyack flood plain on the Middle Fork Flathead River.

 A video about Flathead Lake Biological Station can be viewed at http://bit.ly/1kbi45H.

For more information or to make a donation, call Tom Bansak, research scientist and development coordinator, at 406-982-3301, ext. 229, or email tom.bansak@umontana.edu; call Stanford at 406-982-3301, ext. 236, or email jack.stanford@umontana.edu.

Donate online at http://www2.umt.edu/flbs.