Advancing local connection & Conservation
The Bitterroot Water Partnership understands that our waterways and water needs are dynamic and diverse, so our approach to clean and abundant waters must be, too. That’s why we work with partners throughout the Valley to produce thoughtful and trusted solutions for clean and abundant water, healthy habitats, and empowered watershed stewards.
Our River Ambassadors play an integral role in these efforts. They help us foster new connections, generate innovative ideas and approaches in our conservation work, and empower other watershed stewards.
The Bitterroot River is an unwavering representation of the state of water in the Bitterroot as well as the ways in which water connects us all. A cool, flowing, and well-enjoyed river indicates abundant water, healthy habitats, and happy people. Our river is nourished and dependent on connections with countless tributary streams, irrigation ditches, groundwater flows, wetlands, and springs, and the intentional stewardship distributed across these diverse components of the network is what makes the system bountiful and resilient.
Our River Ambassadors represent and carry out these same River principles in their ability to bring friends and strangers together to advance local water conservation.
Our Ambassadors
Rebecca Busch
The Bitterroot River is helping me raise my boys. From the time they began seeing the world around them, the Bitterroot was a center touchstone in our world. From the time they were in the backpack, as they started walking, and now biking along it’s side with our dog, fishing for our finned friends, or the quench of a swim in it to cool off on the hottest of summer days. My boys are learning about the environment around them, where our water comes from, our seasons, our wildlife, and the things we love to do that connect us with friends and family through the presence and preservation of our beloved Bitterroot River. I’m proud to serve as a River Ambassador so I can set an example for them around community engagement, stewardship, and local leadership.
Jesse Cooke
Hi! I’m Jesse Cook. I became involved in water conservation in the Bitterroot for a selfish reason, I love fishing! Growing up in the west, my family and I always used recreation (ie fishing) as a way to connect with nature and make memories that last a lifetime. My goal is to make a small impact that can better our waterways for future generations
Lisa Classen
Lisa Classen has called the Bitterroot Valley home for the past 23 years. She loves exploring our public lands and wilderness and is passionate about protecting Montana’s natural resources. As a river enthusiast, she is excited to be a River Ambassador and engage in water conservation & watershed protection efforts with the Bitterroot Water Partnership.
She holds an M.A. in Environmental History from Northern Arizona University and works doing sustainable agriculture programming in the valley. In her free time she enjoys hanging out with her daughter Wren, gardening, getting hands-on with wild plant foods & medicines, floating rivers, hiking and skiing.
Christina Dunbar
Christina Dunbar comes from a family that has been an integral part of the Bitterroot Valley since the 1800’s. She has experienced diverse communities growing up in a military family, while always considering the Bitterroot home. She is a Past President of the Bitterroot Valley Kiwanis Club, a former member of the Board of Directors of Emma’s House Child Advocacy Center, and a volunteer for Survivors for Abuse Free Environments (SAFE). In her free time, you might catch her acting in a local play, listening to live music, shopping at the farmer’s market, or volunteering at many local fundraisers. She is glad to be a part of taking care of our incredible River and inspiring others to become involved, too.
Jessica Erben
Jessica is a Staff Engineer working in Natural Resources. Her background is a combination of sediment transport, hydraulics, and chemical processes in open channel systems, such as our Montana rivers! Her career goal is to specialize in river restoration work and learn more about the local ecology and environmental processes of the Bitterroot Valley to give back to the community. In her free time, she likes to be active with a variety of hobbies including skiing, taking her dog for hikes, rock climbing, aerial arts, and hula hoop flow!
Brian Herbel
Brian hails from Wyoming and has lived in western Montana for 22 years, 8 of those in the Bitterroot Valley. He is the owner of Rabbitbrush Archaeological Services and shared owner/operator of a small farm in Victor called Verdure Pastures with his partner Jen Lucco and son Clancy. He enjoys skiing, baking, swimming in the river, and playing music as one of the Bear Creek Boys, among other things.
Zayne Jensen
Zayne grew up Western Montana and moved to Hamilton in 2019. He has always been an outdoor enthusiast, and spent his youth hunting, hiking, and camping. He works as a UPS Driver; a true extrovert, he loves getting to meet people all over town and will strike up a conversation with anyone. After taking over the West Fork delivery route in the spring of 2023 he learned how to fly fish, and now spends his lunch break knee deep in the river! Conservation has always been a priority for him, and he is enthusiastic to share the experiences and lessons he learns from spending so much time along the Bitterroot – and how to take care of his favorite corner of the world.
Christine Lawson
Christine grew up in Houston exploring the local bayous, camping in the woods and swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. She has been lucky to grow up with outdoor-loving parents who took her on long summer trips out West which helped to cultivate her deep infatuation with the Rocky Mountains. The day after graduating college she hopped on a plane and flew to Montana where she joined the Montana Conservation Corps in Missoula MT to do trail work and restoration work alongside other nature-loving folks. That move led to two more degrees – one in restoration ecology and another in forestry – from the University of Montana along with experiences working for the Nez Perce Tribe Watershed Division, the U.S. Forest Service , and Great Bear Native Plants. Now she runs a plant management company in the Bitterroot valley with her husband Joel where they strive to help different land owners move towards more resilient plant communities through smart weed management and native revegetation. She’s acutely aware of how important clean and sufficient water is to the Bitterroot’s plants and people and is excited to help the Bitterroot Water Partnership advance local watershed restoration and education initiatives. When she is not talking or thinking about plants you can often find her hiking or cross-country skiing in the mountains with her dogs, boating the rivers of Montana, coating herself with dirt in her ever-expanding gardens or curled up somewhere reading a good book.