TABLE 2-21. ESTIMATED FISHING PRESSURE ON THE CLARK FORK 



AND SELECTED MONTANA RIVERS (1985-86) 



Fishing Pressure 

 River (Angler days per year) 



Lower Clark Fork (includes tribs.) 21,237 



Middle Clark Fork (mainstem) 3 0,414 



Middle Clark Fork Tributaries 6,835 



Upper Clark Fork (mainstem) 17,578 



Upper Clark Fork Tributaries 24,208 



Bitterroot River (mainstem) 56,024 



Blackfoot River (mainstem) 28,974 



Rock Creek (mainstem) 27,881 



Big Hole River 47,910 



Madison River 108,712 



State Total 1,192,658 



Source: Duf field et al. 1987. 



Although differences in pressure among streams may 

 reflect fishing success, other factors such as access, 

 distance to population centers, aesthetics, fishing regula- 

 tions, etc., may have an equally important influence on the 

 numbers of fishermen using a stream. 



In the past, the primary indicator of the economic value 

 of fish and wildlife in Montana has been dollars spent by 

 sportsmen. Although these expenditures are important to 

 local and state economies, they do not reflect the total 

 recreational value of the resource that includes the personal 

 benefits one receives from hunting and fishing (Montana 

 Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks 1988b) . 



In 1985, the DFWP in cooperation with the U.S. Forest 

 Service (USES) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) , 

 initiated a two-year study to document the recreation value 

 of sport fishing and hunting in Montana (Duf field et al. 

 1987) . Using widely accepted recreation analysis methods 

 (U.S. Water Resources Council 1979, 1983), the department was 

 able to develop an estimate of how much additional amount 

 recreationists would be willing to pay over and above their 

 actual travel costs to have access to a particular site for 

 fishing. The study data provide net economic values 

 appropriate for benefit/cost analysis or where economic 

 efficiency decisions are being made. 



The data used in the study of fishing values were 

 obtained through questionnaires mailed to approximately 

 36,000 resident (92 percent) and nonresident (8 percent) 



2-39 



