PACIFIC NORTHWEST FIVERS STUDY 



Niethod for Assessing the Significance of River Segments 

 and Systems for Wildlife Resources in Montana 



LEAD AGENCY 



Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks 



SENIOR RESOURCE EXPERT' AND STAFF 



John Mundinger, Senior Resource Expert 

 Gael Bissell, Project Staff 



COOPERATING RESOURCE EXPERTS 



Larry Thompson, Montana Department of Natural Resources and 



Conservation 

 Ray Hoem, Bureau of Land Management 

 Don Bartschi, U.S. Forest Service 

 Alex Hoar, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 Carol Taylor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



INTRODUCTION 



The Pacific Northwest Rivers Study was initiated to assess the 

 significance of river segments and systems for a variety of fish, 

 wildlife, natural, recreational, and cultural resource values. 

 The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has been 

 designated to take the lead in assessing the value of rivers for 

 Wildlife in the state of Montana. 



This report summarizes the method which will be used to complete 

 this assessment. The wildlife task force has reviewed the Rivers 

 Study Manual and proposes the following value classes, criteria 

 and standards. Value classes are the categories o:*" resource 

 significance. Criteria are the attributes that will be 

 considered to determine value classes. Standards are the 

 specific characteristics, associated with each criteria, that 

 will be evaluated. The Methods Section describes the 

 questionnaire resource managers will complete during the 

 inventory process. 



CATEGORY DESCRIPTION 



Two categories will be evaluated to determine the value class of 

 each river segment. These are: 



1. Habitat and species value of the stream reach. 

 ?. Recreation value of each stream reach. 



A value class will be determined for each category; the higher 

 value will be assigned to the river segment. Generally, the 

 value class will be determined by Category 1. Fvaluation of 

 Category 2 provides an opportunity to include recreation 

 information in the data inventory, identify river segments that 

 are noteworthy for their recreation value, and to integrate the 

 wildlife valuation with the recreational valuation. 



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