7746

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7746
• Author: Stanford, J. A. and J. V. Ward.
• Title: Management of Aquatic Resources in Large Catchments
• USFW Year: 1991.
• USFW - Doc Type: Recognizing Interactions Between Ecosystem Connectivity and Environmental Disturbance.
• Copyright Material: NO

operations at both dams (Fraley et al. 1989, Fraley and DosSantos 1991, Jourdonnais
et al. 1990, Stanford in press).
Differences of opinion remain as to whether the various mitigation actions are
appropriate or whether they will work explicitly as proposed, primarily because the
statutory authorities of the two processes are independent and mandate solution of
impacts on fish and wildlife without in-depth consideration of the other ecosystem
interactions, such as influences on timing and magnitude of nutrient loads and
connectivity between riverine processes and food web dynamics (Stanford in press).
However, the pervasive effects of stream and lake regulation were thoroughly
documented and an interagency consultation and public information transfer was
effective. This was fostered by forums coordinated by a public information and
oversight group called the Flathead Basin Commission. This commission was
legislated by the State to bring together agency heads and informed citizens in a
manner that stimulated interagency cooperation to fund research, effectively monitoring
of ecosystem indicators (e.g., catchment-wide water quality and population dynamics of
important indicator organisms, like the bull charr) and facilitate interactive discussion of
results and proposed management actions in a non-statutory fashion.
The natural ecological connectivity of the Flathead catchment remains largely
intact. It is a high priority area for conservation and effective resource management
since large areas are designated as national parks, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas
and Tribal lands. Environmental problems exist but they have been quantified,
articulated and periodically reassessed in the process of understanding how this large
catchment is influenced by natural and human disturbances. More information is
needed, but the presence of a legislated commission to coordinate monitoring of
ecosystem conditions by the many different management agencies has proven to be an
effective and empirically-based forum for considering and implementing alternative
actions to protect and enhance ecological connectivity in this large catchment.
Interference Management and the Illusion of Technique
The Flathead experience illustrates the travail of contemporary resource
management. Interactive and cumulative effects become seemingly intractable in
large and ecologically complex catchments. Managers often want cookbook
methodology that will explicitly satisfy increasingly circumspect publics. Unfortunately,
in the absence of practical and conceptual understanding of ecosystem structure and
function, management actions often produce results significantly different from what
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