cumulative watershed impacts to bull trout and cutthroat trout habitat due to increased water 

 yield are low under all proposed action alternatives. A more detailed discussion on the potential 

 for impacts due to cumulative watershed effects and establishing threshold levels is contained in 

 the section of this report addressing "Cumulative Watershed Effects". 



No long-term major or minor detrimental effects resulting in decreased bull trout or westslope 

 cutthroat trout populations and/or degraded habitat conditions are anticipated due to any of the 

 proposed action alternatives, hnplementation of any of the proposed action alternatives are 

 expected to have a long-term major effect of restoring trout habitat in Beaver Creek and lower 

 Bear Creek, and a long-term minor effect of partially restoring trout habitat in Upper Willow 

 Creek. 



The no action alternative and Action Alternative D presents the highest risk to bull trout and 

 westslope cutthroat trout populations and habitat. Under these alternatives, watershed or 

 fisheries improvement projects would not be implemented. This would result in continued 

 degradation of trout habitat in Lower Bear Creek and Upper Willow Creek. Without gully 

 stabilization measures, the existing irrigation ditch will continue to contribute large loads of 

 sediment to Bear Creek and Upper Willow Creek. 



Installation of a headgate at the irrigation diversion on Beaver Creek is included in Alternatives 

 B and C. This restoration work is part of a separate contract with the Montana Department of 

 Fish. Wildlife, and Parks. Installation of the headgate may increase the movement of bull trout 

 and westslope cutthroat trout to fulfill migratory life histories and increase metapopulation 

 dynamics. Headgate control may also increase the spread of the non-native brook trout, which 

 may hybridize with bull trout or out compete westslope cutthroat trout. 



Wildlife 



Elk Security Cover 



Alternative A—No Action 

 Project and Analysis Areas 



With no action, current conditions are not expected to change, with the exception of gradual 

 forest successional changes over time. The project area consists of school trust parcels, totaling 

 approximately 1,786 acres, in which timber harvesting and road construction are proposed 

 (Sections 5, 8, 17, 21, and 28 in T8N, R15W; See Chapter 2 alternative maps). Elk security 

 habitat, as defined by Hillis et al. (1991), are nonlinear blocks of hiding cover > 250 acres in size 

 and > 0.5 miles from any open road. For this analysis, roads were considered closed if they were 

 located behind locked gates during the hunting season. DNRC's road layer was used to identify 

 roads in the area, and the 1996 Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest-Forest Visitor/Travel Map 

 was used to identify seasonal road closures within the EAA. 



Under this alternative, the amount of elk security habitat within the project area, approximately 

 1,066 acres (58.9% of the project area), would remain unchanged. However, risk of stand- 

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