Wild and Scenic Rivers Eligibility Report Lewistown Field Office, Montana Chouteau, Judith Basin, Fergus, and Petroleum Counties January 2015 Prepared for: US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management Lewistown Field Office 920 NE Main Street Lewistown, Montana 59497 Prepared by: Environmental Management and Planning Solutions, Inc. Boulder, Colorado TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1-1 1.1 Project Area ................................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 Why Conduct a WSR Study and Why Now? ........................................................................ 1-1 1.3 What is a Wild and Scenic River? ............................................................................................. 1-2 1.4 Steps in the Wild and Scenic River Study Process ............................................................... 1-2 1.4.1 Eligibility Evaluation ....................................................................................................... 1-3 1.4.2 Suitability Phase .............................................................................................................. 1-5 1.5 Summary of Findings .................................................................................................................... 1-5 2. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................ 2-1 2.1 Methods Used to Identify River and Stream Segments ....................................................... 2-1 2.1.1 Geographic Information Systems ............................................................................... 2-1 2.1.2 BLM Resource Interdisciplinary Team ...................................................................... 2-1 2.1.3 Informational Sources ................................................................................................... 2-7 2.1.4 Other Agencies .............................................................................................................. 2-7 2.2 Eligibility Criteria ........................................................................................................................... 2-8 2.2.1 Free-Flowing Criteria .................................................................................................... 2-8 2.2.2 Outstandingly Remarkable Values Criteria and Region of Comparison .......... 2-9 2.2.3 Preliminary Classification Criteria ........................................................................... 2-13 3. ELIGIBILITY EVALUATION ............................................................................................. 3-1 3.1 Armells Creek ............................................................................................................................... 3-2 3.2 Collar Gulch Creek ...................................................................................................................... 3-4 3.3 Fords Creek ................................................................................................................................... 3-6 3.4 Judith River ..................................................................................................................................... 3-8 3.5 North Fork Flatwillow Creek .................................................................................................. 3-11 3.6 Pike Creek .................................................................................................................................... 3-13 3.7 Sacagawea River (also known as Crooked Creek) ............................................................. 3-16 3.8 South Fork Flatwillow Creek ................................................................................................... 3-19 4. INTERIM MANAGEMENT AND NEXT STEPS ................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Interim Management .................................................................................................................... 4-1 4.2 Next Steps ...................................................................................................................................... 4-3 5. LIST OF PREPARERS ....................................................................................................... 5-1 6. REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 6-1 January 2015 Lewistown Field Office i Wild and Scenic Rivers Eligibility Report TABLES Page 1-1 Stream Segments Determined Eligible for Suitability Study .............................................................. 1-6 2-1 Streams Reviewed for Eligibility ............................................................................................................... 2-2 2-2 Outstandingly Remarkable Values Criteria and Region of Comparison ...................................... 2-10 2-3 Preliminary Classification Criteria ......................................................................................................... 2-13 4-1 Interim Protection for Candidate Wild and Scenic Rivers ................................................................ 4-2 FIGURES Page 1-1 Wild and Scenic Rivers Study Process .................................................................................................... 1-4 1-2 Stream Segments Determined Eligible for Suitability Study .............................................................. 1-7 3-1 Armells Creek .............................................................................................................................................. 3-3 3-2 Collar Gulch Creek ..................................................................................................................................... 3-5 3-3 Fords Creek .................................................................................................................................................. 3-7 3-4 Judith River .................................................................................................................................................. 3-10 3-5 North Fork Flatwillow Creek ................................................................................................................. 3-12 3-6 Pike Creek ................................................................................................................................................... 3-15 3-7 Sacagawea River (Crooked Creek) ....................................................................................................... 3-18 3-8 South Fork Flatwillow Creek .................................................................................................................. 3-20 ii Lewistown Field Office January 2015 Wild and Scenic Rivers Eligibility Report ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Full Phrase ACEC area of critical environmental concern BLM United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management EIS environmental impact statement EMPSi Environmental Management and Planning Solutions, Inc. Forest Service United States Department of Agriculture, National Forest Service LFO Lewistown Field Office MFWP Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks NEPA National Environmental Policy Act National System National Wild and Scenic Rivers System ORV outstandingly remarkable value RMP resource management plan US United States USFWS US Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service VRM visual resource management WSR wild and scenic river WSR Act Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 January 2015 Lewistown Field Office iii Wild and Scenic Rivers Eligibility Report Table of Contents This page intentionally left blank. iv Lewistown Field Office January 2015 Wild and Scenic Rivers Eligibility Report CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The United States (US) Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Lewistown Field Office (LFO) has completed a wild and scenic river (WSR) evaluation as part of its resource management plan (RMP) process. During the identification phase, the BLM examined river and stream segments within the LFO boundaries to identify those segments that either pass through or are bordered by BLM-administered lands. Once identified, standard criteria were applied to determine the eligibility of each segment. This report describes the identification process that was followed, the eligibility and preliminary classification criteria that were used, and the determinations that were made during the eligibility phase of the WSR evaluation for the LFO. 1.1 PROJECT AREA The land area to be covered under the Lewistown RMP is in the central part of Montana in Cascade, Chouteau, Fergus, Judith Basin, Meagher, Petroleum, Pondera, and Teton Counties and in the northern portion of Lewis and Clark County. The Lewistown RMP decision area comprises approximately 655,300 acres of BLM-managed lands in a 12,906,800-acre planning area. 1.2 WHY CONDUCT A WSR STUDY AND WHY NOW? Section 5(d)(1) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (WSR Act; Public Law 90-542; 16 US Code 1271-1287) directs federal agencies to consider potential WSRs in their land and water planning processes (“In all planning for the use and development of water and related land resources, consideration shall be given by all federal agencies involved to potential national wild, scenic,