Pierce R., Podner C., McFee J. A Hierarchical Strategy for Prioritizing the Restoration of 83 Impaired Tributaries of the Big Blackfoot River

Missoula, MT: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, 2002. — 96 p.Over the past decade, the Blackfoot River Restoration Initiative has expanded from simple riparian restoration projects to a watershed-level conservation program. Despite increased demand, scope and complexity of the program, the initiative continues to operate with limited funds and chronic shortages of field personnel. As a result, the need to consolidate and direct restoration resources (effort and money) to priority streams continues to increase. In order to prioritize restoration resources, the Blackfoot Cooperators developed a fisheries-based restoration priority scorecard, based on biological, social and financial considerations, for 83 fisheries-impaired tributaries of the Blackfoot River. To prioritize streams, we summed all scores and converted total score to ranked values in ascending order. We also stratified impaired tributaries by restoration (project streams) and non-restoration (non-project streams) status. We then prioritized streams by biological, social and financial considerations. Prioritization revealed the current program emphasizes streams of high biological priority, and identified many additional non-project streams with potential to benefit bull trout, fluvial westslope cutthroat trout, sport fishery values and water quality.