BOZEMAN — A group of standup paddleboarders in Bozeman are accustomed to riding waves and braving whitewater rapids. Recently, however, they have been taking it easy, leisurely coasting down Bozeman Creek to raise awareness for what they believe to be an important cause.
“We didn’t do it just to say, oh we paddle-boarded Bozeman Creek,” said Chad Dokken. “We did it to bring some attention to this waterway.”
Chad Dokken and Bjorn Borg have been paddleboarding together for almost eight years. They are a team riding for a brand called Hala.
“Hala makes these boards,” said Dokken, allowing them to paddleboard almost anywhere.
“The Gallatin, the Clark Fork, the Madison, and more,” added Borg.
But last month, they decided it was time to take on a new adventure—Bozeman Creek, an underappreciated waterway according to Borg and Dokken.
“There’s a lot of cities in Montana that have celebrated their waterways and I feel like Bozeman’s history has the exact opposite. We kind of buried it,” said Dokken.
That’s why the two men are showing the creek some love and encouraging others to do the same.
“We want to bring attention to the different ways we can celebrate our waterway and move it off the impaired waterway list,” said Dokken.
As Dokken and Borg explored Bozeman Creek, weaving through downtown, they documented their adventure and posted it to Instagram, catching many people’s eye.
“We didn’t really know the impact the video would have but we’ve been proud to partner with some of the members of the Gallatin Watershed Council to promote some upcoming events,” said Dokken.
A cleanup is scheduled at Bozeman Creek followed by an afterparty celebration at Bozeman Pond on Saturday, May 18. To learn more, click here.
“We’re just excited our video helped bring some attention to the Gallatin Watershed Cleanup Day,” said Dokken.
In the future, they hope to create new ways to work with the community.
“To bring some aesthetic attention and kind of relieve the Bozeman Creek from some of its concrete binds,” said Dokken.
Who knows where they’ll go next? To follow along with Dokken and Borg’s paddleboarding adventures, you can follow them on Instagram.
