Flathead Wild and Scenic River: 2018 River Use Report

Mirza, Sanober; Wheeler, Iree; Dalenberg, D; Thomsen, Jennifer; Oja, Ethan; Underwood, Adele

This report describes the use by river floaters on the North, Middle, and South Forks of the Flathead River for 2018. This season was the second time that researchers from the University of Montana have collected information on river use patterns for designated stretches of the Flathead River. Eight new sites were added to the project from the 2017 project sites, including one on McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park. The data was collected using Day 6 Outdoors Plotwatcher Pro game cameras and GameFinder Software. The cameras collected data from sunrise to sunset at twelve locations (six on the North Fork, four on the Middle Fork, and two on the South Fork). The six locations on the North Fork were: Wurtz, Ford, Polebridge, Great Northern Flats, Glacier Rim, and Blankenship. The four sites on the Middle Fork were: Quarter Circle, Moccasin Creek, Paola, and Bear Creek. The South Fork sites included Spotted Bear Swinging Bridge and Mid Creek. One site at McDonald Creek was added for Glacier National Park as well. The cameras were installed between 6/04/2018 and 06/09/2018. Cameras were taken down between 9/26/2018 and 10/02/2018. The site with the highest average craft per day was Moccasin Creek with 73.30 craft per day. Moccasin also had the highest average people per day with 448.94 people per day. Mid Creek had the lowest average craft and people with 2.71 craft per day and 3.74 people per day, respectively. Overall July experienced the highest use at each site, followed by August and September. Comparisons between 2017 and 2018 monitoring demonstrate the similarities that were seen in patterns of craft and people at sites.

Flathead Wild and Scenic River: 2018 River Use Report

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