INSTREAM FLOW RECOMMENDATIONS 

 Introduction 



Instream flow has recently come to be recognized as a major determinant 

 in the capability of a stream or river to support populations of fish and 

 provide riparian and aquatic habitat for game, nongame and furbearing animals. 

 Because the aquatic habitat of a stream is directly dependent on the amount 

 of water within its channel, a particular habitat level will be linked to a 

 particular flow regime. In this manner, discharge regimes capable of main- 

 taining optimum, high, low and critical levels of aquatic habitat potential 

 can be identified when supported by appropriate hydrological and biological 

 data (MDFWP, 1976). 



The MDFWP has undertaken a program to determine the instream flow 

 requirements of numerous streams throughout the state and to make instream 

 flow recommendations for fish and wildlife habitat preservation on these 

 streams. Thirteen streams lying within the boundaries of the Mount Haggin 

 Wildlife Management Area were selected for instream flow recommendations in 

 1979 and 1980. 



The Mount Haggin Wildlife Management Area was obtained from the Nature 

 Conservancy by the MDFWP in 1976. The 55,000 acre area contains a rich 

 aquatic resource with part or all of 28 named streams and numerous unnamed 

 streams found within its boundaries. Mount Haggin area streams originate on 

 both the eastern and western slopes of the Continental Divide and contribute 

 tributary flow to the Big Hole River of the Missouri Basin and the Clark 

 Fork River of the Columbia Basin. 



Recreational Use 



The Mount Haggin area is an important recreational resource. The many 

 streams support an abundant brook trout fishery and lesser numbers of cutthroat 

 trout, rainbow trout, mountain whitefish, and burbot. Arctic grayling have 

 been collected in Deep Creek in the past (Wipperman, 1967). Fisherman use 

 of the area has been documented for a small number of streams (MDFWP, 1976), 

 however, observations made during the summer of 1980 indicate a lightly used 

 resource. 



Lands within the area support substantial populations of elk, moose, 

 mule deer and black bear and are heavily used for big game hunting (Frisina, 

 1980). Hunting district 319, which includes the Mount Haggin area, provided 

 an estimated 34,216 hunter days for elk and mule deer in 1980 (MDFWP, 1980) 

 and, on a per acre basis, supports the highest elk hunter numbers of any 

 district in Montana (Frisina, personal communication). Important moose and 

 deer winter ranges and elk migration routes are found on the Mount Haggin 

 property. Willow bottoms, particularly those in the Deep, Seymour and Willow 

 Creek drainages, provide important moose winter range. Many predators and 

 furbearers are found in the Mount Haggin drainages. Beaver provide a fur 

 harvest on most of the larger streams. During the 1980-81 trapping season, 

 the Mount Haggin area was utilized by five furbearer trappers and four predator 

 trappers on a permit basis. 



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