Summary of Recommendations 



lish Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the 

 control of nonpoint sources of pollution (the 

 form of pollution typically generated by forest 

 management activities). BMPs are practices 

 that are targeted to minimize the production of 

 nonpoint source pollution, specifically organic 

 and inorganic sediments, nutrients, and tem- 

 perature. The State of Montana convened a 

 group of resource specialists to compile Mon- 

 tana's BMPs — thus an expert opinion process. 

 The BMPs have subsequently been approved 

 by the Environmental Protection Agency, and 

 at least for the time being remain voluntary for 

 land managers in Montana (so long as they 

 protect beneficial uses). 



Best Management Practices have no value 

 in protecting resources if they are not applied, 

 are improperly applied, or are ineffective. There- 

 fore, nearly every state involved with forest 

 management, including Montana, has devel- 

 oped a process to audit BMPs in the field — 

 another expert opinion "group-decision" pro- 

 cess. The audit results generate a qualitative 

 assessment as to whether BMPs have been 

 implemented and evaluate their effectiveness in 

 keeping sediment out of streams. 



Nearly every BMP audit finds that the ma- 

 jority of problems result from roads and poor 

 management in the Streamside Management 

 Zone (SMZ). Road BMP criteria were not spe- 

 cifically studied in this cooperative program; 

 however, SMZs were evaluated (Module <j). 

 Neither Montana's BMPs nor recent legislation 

 (House Bill 731, Legislative Session 52) con- 

 sider SMZs as areas of activity exclusion; but 

 rather as areas of special consideration, equip- 

 ment limitation, and especially careful manage- 

 ment. 



Riparian areas exhibit tremendous variation 

 in characteristics and susceptibility to damage. 

 There is litde published research on manage- 

 ment of Montanariparian forests. Consequently, 

 managers have insufficient information or guide- 



lines to help them make site-specific manage- 

 ment prescriptions. The current lack of conclu- 

 sive scientific data thus calls for the use of local 

 experience and expert opinion documented in 

 the form of type-specific management guide- 

 lines. 



The following recommendations regarding 

 forest practices are primarily from: 



Module E — Application of the Mon- 

 tana Nonpoint Source Stream 

 Reach Assessment in the Flathead 

 Basin, 



Module F — Assessments of Best 

 Management Practices, and 



Module G — Management Guidelines 

 for Riparian Forests. 



The following recommendations regarding 

 watersheds are primarily from: 



Module H — Application of the Se- 

 quoia Method for Determining 

 Cumulative Watershed Effects in 

 the Flathead Basin, 



Module I — A Forest Management 

 Nonpoint Source Risk Assessment 

 Geographic Information Systems 

 Application, and 



Module J — Linear Correlation/Re- 

 gression Analysis of Forestry 

 Models, Risk Assessment, and 

 Water Quality and Fisheries Data. 



Specific Recommendations 



Forest Practices Recommendations 



1. Acceptance and use of the State Best 

 Management Practices is the first step 

 toward ensuring that forest practices 



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