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 Use of fertilizers in silvicultural activities may also contribute to 

 increased nutrient levels in streams of the treatment area (35). 



Any soil disturbance, whether from harvesting, road construction, or 

 burning, will contribute to increased nutrient losses from the disturbed 

 area (70). 



Several studies have been conducted in Montana and are identified here: 



In studying watersheds on the Bitterroot National Forest, Bateridge (8) 

 found that clearcutting can stimulate nitrification, resulting in sig- 

 nificant losses of NO- (nitrate) frc-n forested watersheds, particularly 

 those with coarse- textured soils. However, effects of clearcutting 

 may be distorted by effects of parent materials. Foggin and Forcier 

 (26) noted that dissolved nutrient loads in clearcut basin streams near 

 Missoula, Montana are generally higher than those of their forested 

 counterparts. They found that these differences were more closely 

 related to parent material than to the degree of clearcutting. Parent 

 material could possibly account for inconsistencies in the following 

 studies. Weisel and Newell (67) studies the Blackfoot River drainage 

 in Montana and found no measureable nitrate in Gold Creek or Belmont 

 Creek although both had been heavily logged in the past ten years. 



Bateridge (8) also noted that nutrient losses were greater from roaded 

 watersheds than from unroaded watersheds in the Bitterroot National Forest. 



BeByle and Packer (22) found that a maximum nutrient concentration of 

 44 ppm occurred in summer runoff from burned clearcuts in western 

 Montana. In studying the effects of logging and burning on water 

 quality (Coram Experimental Forest in western Montana), Stark (pers. comm.) 

 concluded that the low level treatments (partial cutting, skyline 



