NRCS Funds Conservation in Upper Big Hole Watershed

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), local landowners, and other partners are working together to benefit fluvial arctic grayling habitat in the upper Big Hole River watershed.

Over three years, NRCS has committed more than $2 million for improved fisheries habitat in the upper Big Hole River watershed. This financial support has been distributed in a variety of ways.

• Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding has been utilized to fund 37 contracts with landowners for a total of $1.4 million.
• The Big Hole River Foundation received a grant from NRCS for $134,000 to map existing irrigation diversions on the Big Hole, conduct grazing workshops for landowners, and conduct a grayling symposium.
• NRCS has entered into cooperative agreements totaling $156,000 to increase staffing levels of partner agencies cooperating in the grayling recovery effort.
• NRCS is contributing $10,000 to the effort to develop a user-friendly website to access water rights data and watershed inventory data for the Big Hole watershed.
• Approximately $163,000 has been obligated by NRCS to hire a private consulting firm to develop eight site-specific grazing plans.
• NRCS has set aside $200,000 for the use of Technical Service Providers to help complete designs, oversee installation, and certify practice completion for structural practices previously contracted.
• NRCS increased staffing dedicated to the grayling recovery effort by $125,000

“We want to offer practical, reasonable options that are good for the producer and good for the grayling,” said Dave White, NRCS state conservationist.

Priorities under the EQIP special initiative include water control and fish passage, alternative water sources, riparian health, and animal feeding operations. NRCS has contracted with producers to install 73 head gates, 59 diversions with fish ladders, 52 water flow measuring devices, 13 fish ladders, and 16 off-site stock water developments as well as riparian fencing, nutrient management practices, and riparian forest buffers.

Additionally, NRCS is currently working with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks; Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation; and U.S. Fish and wildlife Service to develop a blanket Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) to address fluvial arctic grayling habitat. Once a CCAA is in place, landowners who implement conservation measures that improve grayling habitat will not be required to implement additional measures if the fish is listed as a threatened and endangered species.

To date, 40 landowners owning over half of the private land associated with the upper Big Hole watershed have signed up under the CCAA.

Guy Peterson, landowner and cattle producer, has been involved with the CCAA effort since the beginning. He is also taking advantage of the assistance offered by NRCS to make improvements to his operation and simultaneously help the arctic grayling.

So far, Peterson has installed three off-site livestock watering facilities and is planning for more. According to Peterson, these watering troughs will really benefit his cattle during the winter when access to the river is limited.

Restoration of Rock Creek, which runs through Peterson’s place, will begin this fall. Planned improvements include reconnecting the stream to the Big Hole River, changing the shape of the channel, bank revegetation, and livestock exclusion to insure the vegetation is able to become fully established.

Peterson has worked with NRCS to plan these improvements, which he believes will greatly improve fish habitat. Further upgrades include new head gates, diversions, and fish ladders.

“We’re still in the first phase here so a lot of things haven’t materialized yet, but we know they will,” said Peterson. “This is a huge project and you really need to be out on the ground to see the scope of it.”

The prolonged drought in Montana has had a direct impact on the fluvial arctic grayling, which is currently listed as a candidate species under the Endangered Species Act. Technical and financial assistance are offered by NRCS in an effort to preserve fluvial arctic grayling habitat and assist in the population recovery effort.

The Big Hole River is home to the last native population of fluvial arctic grayling in the lower 48 states. Historically, these fish were distributed throughout the entire upper Missouri River system, yet today the grayling exist in less than one percent of their native range. Over the past century, dams, habitat loss, competition from introduced trout species, and overfishing have reduced the population.

Last Modified: 06/26/07