stream network, of which 1 ,900 miles are perennial streams capable of supporting fishes. 

 The physical geography of the watershed ranges from high-elevation glaciated alpine 

 meadows, timbered forests at the mid-elevations, to prairie pothole topography on the 

 valley floor. Glacial landforms, moraine and outwash, glacial lake sediments and erratic 

 boulders cover the floor of the entire Blackfoot River valley and exert a controlling 

 influence on the habitat features of the Blackfoot River and the lower reaches of most 

 tributaries. The Blackfoot River is a fi"ee flowing river to its confluence with the Clark 

 Fork River where Milltown dam, a run-of-the-river hydroelectric facility, has blocked 

 upstream fish passage since 1 907. 



Between March 2003 and February 2004, the mainstem Blackfoot River 

 supported an estimated 39,023 angler days. Of this total, Montana residents comprised 

 69% (26,854) and non-residents 31% (12,171) of the total. Most of this angling pressure 

 was concentrated in the lower 54. 1 miles of the Blackfoot River (downstream of the 

 North Fork) where estimates range fi-om 532-585 anglers/mile compared to 132-146 

 anglers/mile upstream of the North Fork. 



Current land ownership in the Blackfoot watershed is approximately 42% National 

 Forest, 25% private ownership, 19% Plum Creek Timber Company, 7% State of 

 Montana, and 6% Bureau of Land Management. In general, public lands and large tracts 

 of Plum Creek Timber Company properties comprise large forested tracts in mountainous 

 areas of the watershed, while private lands occupy the foothills and lower valley areas 

 (Figure 4). Traditional land-use in the basin includes mining, timber harvest, agriculture 



BLM 

 I USPS 



USFWS I I Plum Creek 



State Trust Hm Private Conservation 



DFWP I I Other private 



Figure 4. Land ownership map of the Blackfoot River Watershed. 



13 



