STUDY NUMBER : 13.2 



ORGANIZATION : Institute of Paper Chemistry/Stone Container Cor- 

 poration (Champion International Corporation) 



TITLE OF STUDY ; Benthic Invertebrate Studies on the Middle Clark 

 Fork River 



CONTACT ( S ) : Larry Weeks - Stone Container Corporation - 626- 



4451 



Loren Bahls - Montana Department of Health and 

 Environmental Sciences, Water Quality Bureau - 

 444-2406 



Gary Ingman - Montana Department of Health and 

 Environmental Sciences, Water Quality Bureau - 

 444-2406 



OBJECTIVE ; Annually monitor the benthic invertebrate communities 

 in the Clark Fork River above and below a major pulp and paper 

 mill located at Frenchtown. 



DURATION ; 1956 - Indefinite 



CURRENT STATUS ; Benthic invertebrate samples are collected yearly 

 during late summer at nine to eleven stations. The study area 

 extends from the outskirts of Missoula to Lozeau (near the con- 

 fluence of Nine Mile Creek) with the most intensive coverage 

 given to a twenty mile river reach encompassing the Frenchtown 

 Mill. At each station, four replicated Surber samples are col- 

 lected in riffle areas less than twelve inches deep. All tax- 

 onomic work is conducted at the laboratories of the Institute 

 of Paper Chemistry in Appleton, Wisconsin. Identification of 

 specimens is carried out to the genus and species levels as feas- 

 ible. Various diversity and biotic indices are calculated to 

 ascertain changes in community composition between controls and 

 areas influenced by the mill's effluent. Annual progress reports, 

 which presently number thirty- three volumes, are available from 

 the Institute of Paper Chemistry. 



FUTURE ACTIVITIES : Yearly sampling is expected to continue. 



PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS 



A Benthic Invertebrate Water Quality Survey of the Clark Fork 

 River in the Vicinity of Missoula, Montana. Project 1980. A 

 Progress Report to Champion Corporation, Frenchtown Mill. Pre- 

 pared by the Institute of Paper Chemistry. This report consists 

 of thirty-three volumes; a progress report has been issued each 

 year since 1956. 



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