this watershed or other watersheds. The actual measured sediment reduction or other response to the 

 proposed treatments in several of the situations is difficult if not impossible to measure. We believe 

 there are positive effects to the overall watershed health of Big Creek to be gained by each of the 

 proposed activities, and all water quality objectives will be met with significant improvements to the 

 resource above and beyond the objectives defined in this plan. The sediment source (primarily in 

 upper Big Creek) healing both naturally and man-induced in the past twenty years in Big Creek has 

 caused a postive response in the in-stream sediment levels, as measured by the McNeil Core samples. 

 It should be noted that there is only a small portion of the Moose Fire area above the McNeil Core 

 monitoring reach. However, that area includes a thousand acre plus high burn severity/high erosion 

 potential unnamed watershed is directly above the monitoring reach. For this reason in the short-term 

 one would expect the percent fines in the McNeil Cores to increase even though the planned 

 restoration activities, continued revegetation improvement in upper Big Creek should reduce the 

 sedimentation levels. The middle portion of the mainstem of Big Creek may, or may not change 

 significantly with the effects of the Moose Fire; the cross-section and streambank profile monitoring 

 sites will reveal any increase channel erosion associated with the Moose Fire. 



There may be other potential sediment sources associated with the Moose Fire that become apparent 

 in the next few years. If these are significant sedimentation source there is a funding mechanism Burn 

 Area Emergency Rehabilitation funds for the next two field seasons. 



E - Timeline for Implementation and Cost Estimate 



The actual timeline for implementation of the proposed restoration projects in Big Creek cannot be 

 specified exactly because of how funds are allocated by congress and distributed within the Forest 

 Service. Once the NEPA analysis is completed for proposed actions in Big Creek, and as funds 

 become available, the restoration work in Big Creek will be a high priority for the Flathead National 

 Forest. The adoption of this watershed restoration plan by the DEQ and the EPA, will possibly allow for 

 cooperative watershed restoration funding between the State of Montana, special interest groups, and 

 the Forest Service. There have been post-fire rehabilitation funds allocated for work on Moose Fire 

 projects. These funds should accomplish the BMP road improvement work, and portions of the culvert 

 upsizing and road decomissioning work. 



Coordination with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service will occur prior to initiation of the proposed stream associated restoration treatments to ensure 

 potential impacts to state or federally listed threatened and endangered species are appropriately 

 considered. Table - 7 displays the project sequencing, along with an estimation of time and cost to 

 accomplish the various proposed projects. 



The total estimated cost of this watershed restoration project work is $850,000 depending on when the 

 work is completed. This cost does not include the annual monitoring cost. 



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