STUDY NUMBER ; 5 . 1 



ORGANIZATION : United States Forest Service (USFS) 



TITLE OF STUDY ; Stream Sediment Monitoring on National Forest 

 Lands 



CONTACT ( S ) ; Mike Goggin, Region I US Forest Service, Missoula 



- 329-3039 



Mike Johnson, Region I US Forest Service, Missoula 



- 329-3516 



Don Bartschi, Region I US Forest Service, Missoula 



- 329-3511 



Greg Munther, Lolo, Deer Lodge and Bitterroot 

 National Forests, Missoula - 329-3793 



OBJECTIVE ; Monitor sediment deposition impacts to fish and other 

 aquatic life resulting from National Forest construction and 

 development activities. 



DURATION; 



1975 - Indefinite 



CURRENT STATUS : All or a portion of seven national forests are 

 within the Clark Fork River Basin. US Forest Service fishery 

 biologists and hydrologists routinely collect bottom sediment 

 and some suspended sediment samples from streams where forest- 

 permitted activities like logging and road construction have 

 occurred or are planned to occur. Various sediment deposition 

 measurements are utilized, including core sampling, embeddedness, 

 surface visual analysis and washed sediment buckets. The latter 

 method involves placing washed gravel and cobbles in a seimpling 

 device of known surface area and volume; this method is particu- 

 larly useful in evaluating upstream versus downstream impacts 

 resulting from instream activity. Benthic macroinvertebrates 

 are usually collected at the sediment sampling sites. 



The largest amount of information, particularly regarding 

 biological populations, has been gathered on streams in the Lolo, 

 Deerlodge and Bitterroot National Forests. 



FUTURE ACTIVITIES ; According to the draft Forest Plans prepared 

 by all seven national forests in the basin, the frequency of 

 sediment and biological monitoring activities will increase over 

 the next decade. 



PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS 



1985 Fisheries Habitat and Aquatic Environment Monitoring Report, 

 Bitterroot National Forest, Bitterroot National Forest in cooper- 



32 



