﻿INTRODUCTION 



Northern Lights, Inc. (NLI), a rural electric cooperative based in 

 Sandpoint, Idaho, submitted an application to the Montana Department of 

 Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) in 1980 to build a hydroelectric 

 dam and generating plant, known as the Kootenai River Hydroelectric Project, 

 in the Kootenai Falls area of Lincoln County, Montana. In 1978, NLI 

 contracted with DNRC to conduct a baseline wildlife investigation in the 

 project area. The results of that study, completed in September 1979, were 

 published later that year (DNRC 1979). 



To keep the wildlife data base current and to determine the nature of 

 year-to-year variations in wildlife use of the project area, NLI contracted 

 with DNRC in October 1979 to monitor wildlife in the study area (see DNRC 

 1979 for a study plan). This study would provide a data base for documenting 

 project-related impacts and determining the success of mitigation and 

 compensation programs, should the Board of Natural Resources and Conservation 

 issue a certificate for the project at the Kootenai Falls site. 



The first annual report (DNRC 1981) documented results from the first 

 year of the Kootenai Falls wildlife monitoring study (September 2, 1979, 

 through September 1, 1980). The area monitored in that study was the same as 

 the area inventoried during the original baseline study (DNRC 1979, pp. 2-3), 

 although some surveys were also conducted along U.S. Highway 2 between libby 

 and Troy . 



This second annual report highlights results from the second year of the 

 Kootenai Falls wildlife monitoring study (September 1, 1980 through August 

 31, 1981). The area investigated during this monitoring period was basically 

 the same as that studied during the last monitoring period. Some 

 modifications in monitoring study design, as suggested in the first annual 

 report (DNRC 1981) were employed this year. 



