Introduction 



Funding 



Structure of the Program 



The Coordinating Team worked closely with 

 the Rathead Basin Commission to coordinate 

 the logistics of funding. All participants in the 

 Cooperative Program provided financial, tech- 

 nical, and in-kind contributions. 



Each study component was funded sepa- 

 rately and from a variety of sources. The Coop- 

 erative Program approach facilitated funding 

 assistance. Some study proposals incorporated 

 ongoing projects already funded through Mcln- 

 tire-Stennis Research Program funds and the 

 Montana Riparian Association. A grant request 

 was also received from the Renewable Re- 

 source Development program administered by 

 the Department of Natural Resource and Con- 

 servation for partial support of the program. 



Implementation 



The scientist study leaders implemented the 

 individual projects following thorough devel- 

 opment of a study plan, peer review, approval of 

 the project by the Coordinating Team, and 

 allocation of research funds. Each scientist study 

 leader conducted independent research accord- 

 ing to the study plan. The Coordinating Team 

 reviewed annual work plans, offered sugges- 

 tions, encouraged scientific team efforts, and 

 facilitated appropriate technical assistance from 

 resource specialists working with the various 

 organizations involved in timber management 

 and oversight in the Flathead Basin. 



During the first year of the program, the 

 module study leaders and technical resource 

 specialists conducted a coordination workshop. 

 A team of scientists provided a formal review of 

 the individual cooperative program and offered 

 suggestions for improvements. The participants 

 identified linkages among modules and new 

 modules were developed to provide missing 

 information. 



The funding agencies agreed on nine sepa- 

 rate "study modules." 



(A) An Analysis of the Effect of Timber 

 Harvest on Streamflow Quantity and 

 Regime: An Examination of Histori- 

 cal Records. This study by the Flat- 

 head Lake Biological Station statisti- 

 cally examined the relationships be- 

 tween water flow, weather, logging, 

 and fire data for the basin dating back 

 to the turn of the century. The final 

 study report discusses the implications 

 of past fires and timber harvests on 

 stream flow in the Swan River and the 

 North and Middle Forks of the Flat- 

 head River. 



(B) Evaluation of Historical Sediment 

 Deposition Related to Land Use 

 through Analysis of Lake Sediments. 

 To evaluate the impact of land use 

 activities, floods, and fires on sediment 

 deposition in several lakes in the Flat- 

 head Basin over the last 150 years. The 

 first lake (Whitefish Lake) is located in 

 a watershed that has had extensive log- 

 ging activity during the past century. 

 The second lake (Swan Lake) is lo- 

 cated in an area that has had a number 

 of natural and human-related distur- 

 bance activities. The third lake (Lake 

 McDonald) is located in an area with 

 no logging — although a major road 

 was constructed during the middle part 

 of this century. 



(C) The Effect ofTimber Management on 

 Stream Water Quality. This was an in- 

 stream study to measure any specific 

 changes in aquatic ecology (biologi- 

 cal, chemical, and physical character- 

 istics) due to forestry practices and to 



Flathead Basin Cooperative Program Final Report 



Pages 



