Laserfiche WebLink
<br />RECOMMENDATIONS <br /> <br />Recommendations for the 1997 field season include modifications to determining <br />available habitat in conjunction with habitat use during the radio telemetry study. The <br />observations for the radio telemetry will remain the same in 1997 with the exception that <br />the 24 hour observations will be a priority. Fish that are on accessible areas will be <br />observed in 1997 for a 24 hour period. Contacts in 1996 were limited due to land owner <br />access and the need to implant fish throughout the first four weeks of the study. The <br />recommendation for 1997 is to contact all land owners early in the year to advise them <br />that we would like access to their property so that we may either canoe through or get <br />land access at various locations to observe the fish. <br /> <br />Habitat use information should be based on ground contacted fish locations. Contacts by <br />air overflights should be used for general river location to assist ground crews in locating <br />implanted fish. Ground crews were able to triangulate locations of implanted fish to <br />verifY actual river locations. In some instances the actual locations differed by several <br />miles from the location reported by air surveys. The large differences, with no apparent <br />pattern in occurrence, indicate that air contacts without ground truthing cannot be used to <br />categorize habitat used by the fish. <br /> <br />The crew measuring available habitat should measure transects in areas where fish <br />actually moved. Local movements by the fish from pool through a riffle or run to another <br />pool could be important in determining the range of areas where the fish are able to <br />move. This could help in the determination of what flows are needed for fish movement. <br /> <br />The study as currently designed has two components. This component of radio telemetry, <br />as well as a determination of habitat availability, through measurement of cross stream <br />cross sections of various habitat types. The locations for cross sections are randomly <br />selected at this point. The goal is to gather information on 10% ofthe total number of <br />clusters that have been developed for the river. However, there is no plan to determine if <br />those randomly selected sites are actually representative of the entire river system. It is <br />recommended that a longer reach of river be measured for habitat types to determine if <br />the percentages derived from each of the clusters actually represent longer river habitats. <br />This could be accomplished by habitat mapping a 2-3 mile reach of stream that includes <br />randomly selected clusters and comparing the percentage of each habitat type as shown <br />by the cluster and by the actual measurement of length for habitat mapping. <br /> <br />Yampa River Radio Telemetry Report <br />Miller Ecological Consultants, Inc. <br /> <br />Page 49 <br />January 23, 1997 <br />