American Fisheries Society Symposium 91:xxx–xxx, 2019 © 2019 by the American Fisheries Society Blackfoot River Restoration: A Thirty-Year Review of a Wild Trout Conservation Endeavor Ron Pierce* Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (retired) 11355 Stella Blue Drive, Lolo, Montana 59847, USA W. Ladd Knotek and Craig Podner Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks 3201 Spurgin Road, Missoula, Montana 59804, USA Don Peters Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (retired) 4955 East Carlton Creek Road, Florence, Montana 59833 USA Abstract.—The Blackfoot River restoration endeavor is an ongoing col- laborative, comprehensive, and successful river conservation story in west- ern North America. This chapter describes the restoration framework and process that shaped the first 30 years of this wild trout conservation story. The program began in the late 1980s when fish population surveys identified widespread habitat degradation and depleted numbers of wild trout through- out lower elevations of the Blackfoot River basin and the precarious status of migratory native trout. These initial findings triggered basinwide protective angling regulations for native trout, followed by fish population surveys in all streams. Fisheries data were then combined with basinwide aquatic habitat assessments to facilitate a collaborative multiscale restoration methodology to improve the ecological integrity of the river and its tributaries. Elements of the restoration framework included (1) basin-scale fish and habitat data collections that helped to identify human-induced limiting factors and pro- mote landowner education/cooperation, (2) pilot restoration projects and prioritizations of tributary restoration work, (3) the site-specific integration of passive restoration (e.g. grazing and revegetation) and active restoration (e.g. fish screens, channel reconstruction) techniques, (4) the application of the reference reach concept within the restoration framework, and (5) the essential role of watershed groups in fundraising, implementation planning, and watershed-scale conservation easement protection, especially on private ranchlands. Finally, this chapter summarizes programmatic elements, specif- ic case studies, and restoration techniques that preceded wild trout popula- tion expansion in the tributaries and main-stem Blackfoot River. The purpose of this chapter is to help others understand how we approached and imple- mented a major watershed restoration program. * Corresponding author: [email protected] 1 2 pierce et al. Introduction As restoration practices gained so- cial acceptance, the restoration program After more than 60 years of stocking hatch- evolved into an iterative, multiscale native- ery trout in the rivers and streams of western trout recovery process (Pierce et al. 1997, Montana, a 1974 decision by the Montana 2013). Basin-scale fish population informa- Fish and Game Commission facilitated an tion, life-history studies (e.g., movement end to stocking practices and ushered in the and habitat use using radiotelemetry), and era of wild trout management (Zackheim comprehensive habitat assessments identi- 2006). This management philosophy relied fied anthropogenic limiting factors while on the concept of self-propagating fisheries directing restoration activities to individual rather than hatchery supplementation. De- tributary populations. Restoration methods cades of stocking also masked a long legacy included enhancing instream flows in trout- of mining, dewatering, overgrazing, and rearing areas, preventing fish loss in irriga- other forms of stream degradation through- tion canals, reconstructing altered streams out western Montana. Once stocking ended, to naturalize channel form and function, it became increasingly evident that manag- and fencing livestock from riparian areas. ing for wild trout would not only require The scope and scale of projects gradually reductions in angler harvest, but also res- expanded outward from the central Black- toration of spawning and rearing habitat to foot River valley as human-induced limiting recover the natural productivity of damaged factors were identified and opportunities trout streams. allowed. Within this framework, monitor- Given this context, the Blackfoot River ing and project evaluation were essential in restoration endeavor can be traced to the measuring ecological effectiveness, promot- mid-1980s when public perception of declin- ing landowner education, and facilitating ing wild trout populations in the Blackfoot adaptive management (Pierce et al. 2013; Pe- River prompted Montana Fish, Wildlife and naluna et al. 2016). Parks (MFWP) to assess fish populations in This chapter emphasizes the basic res- the main-stem river and its primary tribu- toration framework and phased restoration taries (Peters and Spoon 1989; Peters 1990). approaches in the Blackfoot River water- Early investigations confirmed depleted shed while providing examples of wild trout trout populations, overharvest of spawners, responses to the restoration program over precariously low numbers of migratory na- a 30-year period. The framework includes tive trout, and widespread degradation of (1) watershed-scale fish and habitat data- the tributaries, especially at lower elevations collection techniques that led to stream pri- of the watershed (Peters and Spoon 1989; oritizations; (2) strengthened stakeholder Moore et al. 1991; Pierce et al. 2001, 1997). relationships through public outreach and These initial findings led to basin-scale fisheries information sharing; (3) how pilot catch-and release regulations for native projects, natural channel design methods, trout in 1990, greatly expanded fish popula- and concepts of the reference reach were tion and habitat assessments in tributaries, applied (Harrelson et al. 1994; Rosgen 1996; as well as small-scale, pilot-level restoration Pierce et al. 2013); and (4) the essential role projects on private ranchlands (Aitken 1997; of watershed groups. Finally, this chapter Pierce et al. 1997). Increased data collection summarizes major program elements (land- and early successes on pilot projects led to scape connectivity and conservation ease- the incremental development of a stream ment protection, basin-scale and spring restoration methodology for the Blackfoot creek restoration) using various case studies River basin and the expansion of stream res- to help clarify multiscale trends in wild trout toration from 1990 to the present. blackfoot restoration spans 30 years 3 response using long-term (>5 years) moni- located at the junction of the Blackfoot and toring data. Clark Fork rivers until it was removed in 2008. The Blackfoot River main stem is now Study Area: The Blackfoot River free-flowing, 212 km in length, and 1 of 12 re- Basin and Its Wild and Native Trout nowned blue-ribbon trout rivers in Montana with a publicly (MFWP) held appropriated The Blackfoot River is one of the most scenic, Murphy instream flow summer water right physically diverse, and biologically complex of 19.8 m3/s. In 2015, the 1971 priority date of rivers in western Montana. As a headwater the Murphy water right gained more senior basin (6,008 km2) in the upper Columbia status (i.e., 1904) when the Montana Legis- River watershed, it drains the western edge lature ratified the Confederated Salish Koo- of the Continental Divide via 3,060 km of pe- tenai Water Compact with Senate Bill 262. rennial streams and joins the Clark Fork Riv- The hydrology of the basin is a snow- er near Missoula (Figure 1). Milltown Dam, melt-dominated regime. As measured at a run-of-the-river hydroelectric facility, was the Bonner gauging station (U.S. Geological Figure 1. Blackfoot River location map in western Montana including major streams within the basin. Map numbers (1–16) relate to stream names/locations in the legend. The diamonds (1–4) show long-term fish population monitoring sites on the mainstem Blackfoot River. Stars (5–12) refer to tributary restoration case studies described in this report. Green circles (13– 16) and the green star (9) show spring creek study sites. 4 pierce et al. Survey Bonner gauge #12340000), river dis- Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis are com- charge ranges from a high of >140 m3/s dur- mon in headwater streams. ing spring runoff to base flows of 14–20 m3/s, Wild trout (native and nonnative spe- with a mean annual discharge of about 45 cies) in the watershed depend on tributary m3/s. The physical geography of the water- habitat during some portion of their life shed ranges from high-elevation, glaciated cycle. Therefore, trout species composition mountains with alpine meadows to tim- and abundance in the Blackfoot River close- bered forests at the mid-elevations and prai- ly reflects the number and quality of nearby rie pothole topography on the valley floor. tributaries. Biotic relationships among the Glacial landforms, moraine and outwash Blackfoot River and tributary systems vary deposits, and erratic boulders variably cover among river reaches. Some reaches include the floor of the entire Blackfoot and Clear- environments that are naturally (and sea- water River valleys. These features exert a sonally) harsh (i.e., intermittent reaches, controlling influence on the physical attri- excessively warm reaches or those prone to butes of the Blackfoot River and the lower winter anchor ice), and/or lack functional reaches of most tributaries. tributaries. Within this natural setting, na- Land ownership in the basin is com- tive trout have adapted to a complex, gla- prised of public and private holdings: