3. Support funding for reclamation projects. 



Make funding of reclamation projects in the Clark Fork 

 Basin a high priority. There must be sufficient 

 funding in place to monitor the effectiveness of various 

 reclamation techniques and to determine if there are 

 environmental impacts associated with those techniques. 



4. Apply reclamation techniques to larger areas. 



a. Transfer the knowledge gained from studies on small 

 demonstration plots to larger land areas to 

 determine if the techniques are successful, 

 economically feasible, and environmentally sound. 



b. Fund the next phase of the Headwaters RC&D project, 

 which involves six 10 to 15-acre sites, as a first 

 step toward reestablishment of forage on lands 

 contaminated by mine waste. Funding of other 

 reclamation demonstration projects will be critical 

 in the future. 



Funding for the background soils study should be 

 provided through the Super fund process. Reclamation project 

 funding could be derived from a number of sources, including 

 the RIT program, Superfund, or the responsible party. A 

 cost-share program should be considered to encourage 

 landowner participation. Without such a program to under- 

 write a portion of the reclamation costs, reclamation of 

 agricultural lands would not likely be cost-effective for 

 individual farm enterprises. 



Surface Water Quality 



The recommendations listed above for the upper Clark 

 Fork primarily address the pervasive metals problems in the 

 upper river. Reclamation efforts aimed at the variety of 

 mine wastes could lead to eventual improvement in surface 

 water quality. However, a number of other factors, such as 

 nonpoint source pollution, nutrients and eutrophication, DO, 

 and temperature are also current water quality problems in 

 the Clark Fork. Recommended actions to address these issues 

 are outlined below. 



5-10 



