Response of Major Forest Land Managers 



Watershed Evaluation Recommenda- 

 tions 



Each of the managers is a member of the 

 Montana Cumulative Watershed Effects Coop- 

 erative (MCWEC). The goal of this cooperative 

 is to share information and technology, includ- 

 ing the use of WATSED as the primary water- 

 shed model in an effort to address the issue of 

 cumulative effects. The studies did not show 

 that the Sequoia model was more accurate than 

 WATSED, and a change to the Sequoia model 

 is not planned. 



The MCWEC's members annually provide 

 each other with their plans for roading and 

 timber harvest. Cooperators are then in a posi- 

 tion to undertake watershed planning and cu- 

 mulative effects analysis. The managers en- 

 courage continuing close coordination of these 

 complex issues. 



Water Quality and Fisheries Recom- 

 mendations 



The land managers acknowledge the sig- 

 nificance of bull trout and westslope cutthroat 

 trout as "Species of Special Concern" which are 

 sensitive to sedimentation of their habitat. We 

 will cooperate in obtaining more complete in- 

 formation on the distribution of these species 

 and the condition of their habitats. Also, we will 

 continue to support efforts to understand habi- 

 tat relationships for all fish species which may 

 be affected by forest practices. 



The MCWEC provides an excellent forum 

 for the exchange and discussion of fisheries 

 information as it relates to management activi- 

 ties. This process would be gready strength- 

 ened by increased participation from the Mon- 

 tana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. As 

 a starting point, the Department of Fish, Wild- 

 life and Parks should provide a list of bull trout 

 and westslope cutthroat trout streams they con- 



sider threatened or impaired. 



In recent years, more attention has been 

 focused on eliminating or controlling sediment 

 delivery to streams from management activi- 

 ties. Efforts should continue to improve forest 

 practices to reduce erosion and transport of 

 sediment and nutrients to surface waters. We 

 will emphasize this objective as a crucial step in 

 the protection of water quality and fish habitat. 



The land managers will strive to maintain a 

 transportation system which has as little impact 

 on water quality as possible. We recognize that 

 reducing erosion on existing roads is desirable, 

 especially during spring runoff. We will con- 

 tinue to correct problems created by past road 

 construction. Where new road construction oc- 

 curs, the land managers will take all reasonable 

 and effective measures to reduce erosion and 

 sediment loads. We will continue to maintain 

 existing roads to minimize erosion and employ 

 the most appropriate BMPs available when 

 constructing new roads. We will also continue 

 the Montana Road Management Cooperative, 

 which is providing significant benefits to both 

 wildlife and water quality through road clo- 

 sures. 



Most known bull trout spawning areas and 

 some identified westslope cutthroat trout spawn- 

 ing areas in watersheds with timber manage- 

 ment allocations are presentiy being monitored. 

 There are other streams used by fewer bull trout 

 which spawn over a more dispersed area, and 

 many more streams where cutthroat spawning 

 sites are likely to be scattered along consider- 

 able stream length. Monitoring all these streams, 

 sites would have to be arbitrarily chosen, espe- 

 cially if spawning areas have not been identi- 

 fied or change annually. Given the reality of 

 limited budgets, monitoring efforts must be 

 focused on streams which could be affected by 

 management activities, plus a sampling of some 

 natural or "control" streams. 



We have concerns about using a highly- 



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Flathead Basin Cooperative Program Final Report 



