86 



^. Fish Creek Drainaoe 



The Fish Creek watershed drains a portion of the Bitterroot Mountains and 



is tributary to the Clark Fork River about 10 miles west of Alberton, Montana, 



Forestland ownership within the drainage is extremely varied. Although the 

 headwaters area is mostly USFS ownership, the lower reaches are dominated 

 by a checkerboard pattern of ownership that includes: Champion, the state, 

 Burlington Northern, and the USFS. Timber harvest and associated road 

 construction has occurred on parts of all ownerships; these activities have 

 been especially heavy on Champion and USFS lands. 



Significant water quality problems have developed on Fish Creek, resulting 

 from these silvicultural operations (DHES, 1976; USFS - Ninemile, pers. 

 comm. ; DF&G - Missoula, pers. comm.). Increased sediment loads, increased 

 water yields, and channel modifications have been the most obvious problems. 

 Table VI - B8 delineates specific problem areas; these are located on 

 Plate I. 



Measures for problem mitigation and prevention must be applied on a basin- 

 wide basis to effectively deal with the previously identified problems. 

 The most comprehensive measures include: 1) restriction of silvicultural 

 (and other) activities that could further impact existing problem areas; 

 2) conduct basin-wide inventories to assess physical limitations of the 

 watershed and identify water resource needs; 3) coordination of silvi- 

 cultural (and other) activities among various land managers in accordance 

 with watershed limitations, particularly in drainages already impacted; 

 4) pursue watershed rehabilitation and protection measures (i.e., reforesta- 

 tion, road reclamation, streambank stabilization); 5) promote or require 

 use of BMP's in silvicultural activities. 



