Summary of Conclusions 



fore, the standard approach (accepted by the 

 Environmental Protection Agency) for attempt- 

 ing to minimize nonpoint source pollution is to 

 first develop a set of Best Management Prac- 

 tices (BMPs) based on research and experience, 

 that will help protect water quality and benefi- 

 cial uses. Field audits of BMP application and 

 effectiveness are then used as an indirect evalu- 

 ation. 



The current procedure for evaluation of 

 effectiveness is based on field review by expe- 

 rienced teams. BMPs are general standards and 

 often require site-specific interpretation. Con- 

 current studies have been underway to develop 

 improved management guidelines for riparian/ 

 wetland habitat types as an aid to site-specific 

 interpretations. This section reports the conclu- 

 sions from those modules that were addressing 

 forest practices at the site-specific level: 



*F = Module F: Assessments of Best Man- 

 agement Practices. 



*G = Module G: Management Guidelines 

 for Riparian Forests. 



13. BMPs are generally better-applied and 

 more effective in the Flathead Basin 

 than in the state in general. However, 

 there is still considerable room for im- 

 provement in both apphcation and ef- 

 fectiveness. (*F) 



14. Audits revealed that the greatest num- 

 ber of departures were related to road 

 drainage and road maintenance, fol- 

 lowed by failure to recognize and 

 modify practices in the SMZ. (*F) 



15. A major value of the Audit process is 

 the opportunity for education and im- 

 provement of communication. (*F) 



16. Application of new "habitat type-spe- 

 cific" management information will be 

 a valuable aid for site-specific evalu- 

 ation and prescription. (♦G) 



17. New criteria will provide for consis- 

 tent field delineation of Streamside 

 Management Zones to meet the intent 

 of theBestManagementPractices. (*G) 



18. An erosion risk matrix in relation to 

 slope and soil erodibility is now avail- 

 able to estimate erosion hazards of dif- 

 ferent forest practices. It can be used 

 for watershed-level risk assessment of 

 proposed alternative practices (Mod- 

 ule I), for future BMP evaluation (Mod- 

 ule F), and for general interpretations. 

 (*G) 



Watershed Evaluation 



O, 



'ne of the essential links in understand- 

 ing the relations between forest practices and 

 the aquatic ecosystem is the assessment of cu- 

 mulative effects. Models to predict cumulative 

 effects are still in the developmental stage. The 

 R1-R4 Sediment Model and the H.OY Water 

 Yield Model have been the standard prototypes. 

 Two alternative models (Sequoia and GIS Ero- 

 sion Risk) were evaluated as a part of this 

 program and a very recent model (WATSED) 

 was also partially evaluated. The conclusions in 

 this section are based on the following modules: 



*H = Module H: Application of the Sequoia 

 Method for Determining Cumulative 

 Watershed Effects in the Flathead Ba- 

 sin 



*I = Module I: A Forest Management 

 Nonpoint Source Risk Assessment 

 Geographic Information Systems Ap- 

 plication 



*J = Module J: Linear Correlation/Regres- 

 sion Analysis of Forestry Models, Risk 

 Assessment, and Water Quality and 

 Fisheries Data 



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Flathead Basin Cooperative Program Final Report 



