[T^ Core Area'Watersheds 



Figure 2. Core area watersheds and proposed critical bull 

 trout habitat for the Blackfoot River Watershed (excluding 

 the Clearwater drainage). 



Structure throughout the watershed; 3) maintain and increase the connectivity between the 

 Blackfoot River and its tributaries; 4) establish a baseline of redd counts in all drainages 

 that presently support spawning migratory bull trout; and 5) maintain a count of a least 

 100 redds or 2,000 individuals in the Blackfoot drainage with an increasing trend 

 thereafter (MBTRT 2000). 



In 2002, the Unites States 

 Fish and Wildlife Service 

 (USFWS) designated proposed 

 critical habitat and developed a 

 draft recovery plan. The critical 

 habitat designation includes the 

 mainstem Blackfoot River and 

 all mainstem tributaries of all 

 core area watersheds (Figure 2). 

 The draft recovery plan outlined 

 measures needed to help remove 

 bull trout from the ESA list, 

 similar to the Montana Bull 

 Trout Recovery Team (USFWS 

 2002). 



During 2002 and 2003, 

 bull trout recovery incorporated: 

 1 ) restoration on four bull trout-bearing streams (Results Part III); 2) completion of a bull 

 trout telemetry study in the upper drainage (Results Part IV); 3) an evaluation of thermal 

 properties of spawning sites; 4) adopted fishing gear restrictions {artificial lure only) at 

 the mouth of the North Fork and Monture Creek; and 4) the decision to remove Milltown 

 Dam. We also monitored bull trout population trends in the Blackfoot River and five 

 spawning streams, and assessed juvenile populations on four core area streams (Results 

 Part III). 



Beginning in 1994, telemetry studies identified the movements and habitat use of 

 fluvial bull trout in the lower Blackfoot River (Schmetterling 2001, 2003, Swanberg 

 1997; Swanberg and Bums 1997). Studies confirmed the importance of Monture Creek 

 and North Fork to fluvial Blackfoot River bull trout, identified the Dunham Creek 

 spawning area and revealed many restoration opportunities, including the Dunham Creek 

 restoration project. These early studies documented extensive use of the lower river by 

 bull trout, but no use of the upper Blackfoot River (upstream of the North Fork 

 confluence) by lower river bull trout. Swanberg and Bums (1997) evaluated the 

 movements and habitat use of a small number of radio-tagged bull trout in the upper 

 Blackfoot River drainage upstream of Lincoln. This study identified a new spawning 

 location in Copper Creek, the Landers Fork as a migration corridor, and bull trout 

 wintering in the Landers Fork and upper Blackfoot River upstream of Lincoln. 



In 2002 and 2003, we telemetered 10 aduh bull trout in a 55-mile section of the 

 upper Blackfoot River between the North Fork and Lincoln. Telemetry identified 

 downstream movements of Blackfoot River bull trout into the North Fork, and much 

 more extensive upstream movement of bull trout to Copper Creek than previously 



