Class V -- a fishery of limited value. From the Little Blackfoot 

 to Milltown Dam, conditions improved slightly, increasing the 

 rating to a Class IV. Since the construction of settling ponds 

 and other waste treatment improvements by the Anaconda Minerals 

 Company in the river's headwaters area, a steady improvement in 

 water quality has resulted. The subsequent increase in fish 

 numbers has led to a Class II sport fishery value for the river's 

 upper Al miles and a Class III sport fishery in the remaining 70 

 miles today. From Dempsey Creek to Rock Creek, however, trout 

 populations have remained depressed due to poor habitat conditions 

 caused by stream channelization, dewatering and mining pollutants 

 still present in the river substrate and along its floodplain. 



Also within in the upper Clark Fork drainage is a Class I 

 sport fishery on Rock Creek from its mouth to the confluence of 

 its forks. This 48-mile reach has been rated a Class I sport 

 fishery since the first classification map in 1959. The fishery 

 in 1959 was characterized by heavy plants of rainbow trout which 

 coincided with the highest angler use and harvest ever recorded on 

 Rock Creek. Rock Creek's fishery over the 25-year period to the 

 present has found the cessation of trout stocking, the use of 

 restrictive creel limits and gear, and a change in angler 

 preference to catch-and-release. Today, catch and released fish 

 contribute over 90 percent of the fish to a fishing trip, 24 

 percent of the anglers are from out of state, rainbow trout over 

 14 inches have increased 300 to 1,000 percent since more 

 restrictive regulations were initiated, and the goal of providing 

 a greater number of fish 14 inches and larger has been met. 



Eight essential spawning tributaries to Rock Creek and 13 

 stream reaches containing isolated populations of pure westslope 

 cutthroat trout received a Class I in the habitat and species 

 value in the upper Clark Fork drainage. The same mining that 

 destroyed the fishery of the main stem for over half a century 

 also isolated native populations in tributary streams from 

 introduced exotic species. Douglas Creek (including its three 

 forks), which flows into a settling pond in the Flint Creek 

 drainage, is a prime example of this isolation where abundant 

 populations of pure westslope cutthroat trout exist today. 



Wildlife 



The upper Clark Fork River drainage, which offers some of the 

 most spectacular and diverse wildlife areas in Montana, was 

 divided into 37 assessment units -- 13 within the upper Clark Fork 

 River drainage, nine within the Blackfoot drainage, and 15 within 

 the Bitterroot River (Table 25). The Blackfoot River far 

 outranked all other Clark Fork river basins in both species and 

 habitat quality. Four of the Blackfoot's nine units earned a 

 Class I final resource value. Six units received a Class I 

 species rating while two secured Class I habitat ratings. 

 Outstanding river units include the North Fork of the Blackfoot, 



60 



