Title
Restoration of German Gulch Creek and a Vision for Fisheries Restoration in the Silver Bow Creek watershed
Abstract
The German Gulch Watershed Restoration Project will benefit the Silver Bow Creek watershed, complement Superfund remedy and restoration, and enhance recreational opportunities for local residents. Midway between Butte and Anaconda, German Gulch Creek is a major tributary of Silver Bow Creek that was heavily placer mined about 100 years ago. Restoring and protecting natural resources in German Gulch is a key element in maximizing aquatic habitat and recreational opportunities in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin.
This restoration project has four objectives:
- Insure connectivity between German Gulch Creek and Silver Bow Creek;
- Restore and protect habitat for native Westslope cutthroat trout;
- Improve public access to lower German Gulch; and
- Enhance water quality and quantity to German Gulch Creek and Silver Bow Creek.
German Gulch Creek is the most popular recreational fishery in the Silver Bow Creek watershed, and its restoration will directly benefit Silver Bow Creek through the recruitment of native trout—a seed stock to repopulate the remediated and restored stream. Furthermore, the proximity of German Gulch to Butte, Anaconda, and the Greenway insures that the public will benefit from this restoration effort.
The restoration and protection of Westslope cutthroat trout in German Gulch Creek is an integral part of George Grant Trout Unlimited’s vision for the Silver Bow Creek watershed. Native populations of Westslope cutthroat trout persist in the headwaters of many streams feeding Silver Bow Creek. Because of historical pollution in Silver Bow Creek, it was never colonized by exotic species such as rainbow and brown trout. Thus, the remediation and restoration of Silver Bow Creek by Montana’s Natural Resource Damage Program brings a major opportunity to restore the upper Silver Bow Creek watershed for native trout. Along with this opportunity come serious challenges, including high levels of nutrient pollution from Butte’s sewage treatment plant, metals pollution from mine tailings in the Butte Priority Soils superfund operable unit, agricultural dewatering of tributary streams that severs connectivity with Silver Bow Creek, and the presence of exotic brook trout in most tributary streams. Though these challenges make the restoration of a native fishery in Silver Bow Creek a long term goal, we argue that authentic restoration requires what the philosopher Albert Borgmann calls focal realism and patient vigor.
Start Date
1-4-2005 1:00 PM
End Date
1-4-2005 3:00 PM
Document Type
Poster
Restoration of German Gulch Creek and a Vision for Fisheries Restoration in the Silver Bow Creek watershed
The German Gulch Watershed Restoration Project will benefit the Silver Bow Creek watershed, complement Superfund remedy and restoration, and enhance recreational opportunities for local residents. Midway between Butte and Anaconda, German Gulch Creek is a major tributary of Silver Bow Creek that was heavily placer mined about 100 years ago. Restoring and protecting natural resources in German Gulch is a key element in maximizing aquatic habitat and recreational opportunities in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin.
This restoration project has four objectives:
- Insure connectivity between German Gulch Creek and Silver Bow Creek;
- Restore and protect habitat for native Westslope cutthroat trout;
- Improve public access to lower German Gulch; and
- Enhance water quality and quantity to German Gulch Creek and Silver Bow Creek.
German Gulch Creek is the most popular recreational fishery in the Silver Bow Creek watershed, and its restoration will directly benefit Silver Bow Creek through the recruitment of native trout—a seed stock to repopulate the remediated and restored stream. Furthermore, the proximity of German Gulch to Butte, Anaconda, and the Greenway insures that the public will benefit from this restoration effort.
The restoration and protection of Westslope cutthroat trout in German Gulch Creek is an integral part of George Grant Trout Unlimited’s vision for the Silver Bow Creek watershed. Native populations of Westslope cutthroat trout persist in the headwaters of many streams feeding Silver Bow Creek. Because of historical pollution in Silver Bow Creek, it was never colonized by exotic species such as rainbow and brown trout. Thus, the remediation and restoration of Silver Bow Creek by Montana’s Natural Resource Damage Program brings a major opportunity to restore the upper Silver Bow Creek watershed for native trout. Along with this opportunity come serious challenges, including high levels of nutrient pollution from Butte’s sewage treatment plant, metals pollution from mine tailings in the Butte Priority Soils superfund operable unit, agricultural dewatering of tributary streams that severs connectivity with Silver Bow Creek, and the presence of exotic brook trout in most tributary streams. Though these challenges make the restoration of a native fishery in Silver Bow Creek a long term goal, we argue that authentic restoration requires what the philosopher Albert Borgmann calls focal realism and patient vigor.