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11. Upper Swan River Drainage 



The Swan River drainane (northwest Montana) is defined by the Mission Range 

 to the west, the Swan Range to the east and a lesser divide to the south. 

 The mouth of the drainage is at Bigfork, Montana. Only the upper reaches 

 (Missoula County) are addressed in this study; the Flathead Designated 

 208 study addresses the drainage segment within Lake County. The DNR&C 

 basin designation is 76K and the headwater areas are classed as B-Dj 

 waters (DHES). 



An extensive checkerboard ownership pattern (USPS and Burlington Northern) 

 dominates the upper Swan River valley. Logging activities have been 

 pursued on both land onwerships and are expected to increase in the 

 future (USPS - Bigfork, pers. comm.). Some coordination of harvests 

 and road building has occurred between adjacent ownerships. 



Reported water quality problems were surprisingly few when considering 

 the extent of harvest which has occurred. However, as additional timber 

 harvest and road construction occur, the watershed will come closer to 

 its capacity for absorbing impacts from forestry activities. Existing 

 and potential problems are delineated in Table VI-BU and located on 

 Plate I. 



Coordination of silvicultural activities between the USPS and BN are 

 necessary if the Swan River is to retain its present water quality. There 

 are also agricultural and urban development activities that must be 

 considered. 



