High productivity, high species diversity, and high species densities all contribute 

 to high intrinsic values of riparian ecosystems. The science of wildlife-riparian 

 relationships is in its infancy. It was only in the fall of 1968 that efforts to 

 quantify the impact of streamside vegetation removal on wildlife were first under- 

 taken (Carothers 1977). We now realize that riparian ecosystems are important: 

 1) in bank stabilization, 2) as a buffer between aquatic ecosystems and potential 

 impacts of upland activities on water quality, 3) as green belts, 4) in maintenance 

 of instream flows by contributing riparian zone ground water, 5) for their contribu- 

 tion to habitat for the majority of wildlife species in North America. Water 

 manipulation as it affects the riparian zone and the terrestrial wildlife which is 

 dependent upon it, has only recently been recognized as a threat to the nonrenewable 

 riparian resource. Due to various human developments, riparian vegetation has been 

 reduced in the United States to 70-90 percent of its original extent, and remaining 

 riparian habitat continues to be destroyed at approximately 6 percent per year 

 (McCormick 1978). The integrity of the remaining free-flowing Kootenai River in 

 Montana must be addressed when considering the economic, intrinsic and aesthetic 

 values of a dam on Kootenai Falls. 



RECOMMENDATIONS 



In assessing the wildlife resource of the Kootenai Falls area, and then the 

 possible consequences of a dam at the falls, several questions must be resolved 

 about the wildlife of the area and the existing habitat. Vegetation must be 

 categorized, mapped and rated in terms of abundance and availability, and related 

 to the diversity, distribution, seasonal occurrence and abundance of fauna. Natural 

 maintenance of the critical vegetation components must be understood. These data 

 must be used in conjunction with specific information about project construction, 

 duration and goals to determine which species will be affected, and to what degree, 

 relative to various flow regimes. Basically the following procedure could be used: 



1. determine quantitative abundance of each habitat component 



2. determine distribution of each habitat component 



3. determine amount of each component that will be inundated with each 

 increment of cfs up to full pool level 



4. determine the desired wildlife population levels 



5. determine the significance of the habitat components to: a) the number 

 of wildlife species using each, and, b) the life cycle of each species 



6. determine the critical maximum pool level, the minimum instrean flow 

 level and the altered flow regime which can be tolerated before 

 jeopardizing the predetermined population minimums. 



Comprehensive and intensive study designs are mutually exclusive due to the time/cost 

 factor; therefore, it is possible to follow the above procedure only if key species 

 are identified. 



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