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Paper: Assessment of Aquatic Organism Passage....
Assessment of Aquatic Organism Passage at Road/Stream Crossings for the Northern Region of the USDA Forest Service, March 2008
The Northern Region of the USDA Forest Service completed a comprehensive survey and assessment of fish passage at road-stream crossings. The surveys were done over 3 years at a cost of $270 per site. Approximately 2900 culverts were surveyed on 50,000 miles of Forest Development Roads in Montana, northern Idaho and eastern North and South Dakota. Those surveys were assessed based on passage of adult and juvenile westslope and yellowstone cutthroat trout. Findings indicate that approximately 80% of the surveyed culverts impede passage of cutthroat at some life stage or during certain flows. Of those barriers, 576 culverts impede all fish passage and represent total barriers, thus isolating fish populations. These barriers represent a significant issue for fragmentation and viability of cutthroat populations in the Region. This assessment provides the Region with a tool to build a strategic program to improve aquatic organism passage across the Northern Region.