The Montana Association of Conservation Districts produced a 108 page report on riparian areas in Montana. We have a copy of that report available for download.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
What techniques are Montanans using to protect riparian areas? A broad spectrum of Montanans shared answers to this question at ten listening sessions and two focus groups held statewide between January and July 2010. Research and outreach through more than 60 personal interviews followed the listening sessions to flesh out more detailed profiles of instructive “best management practices” (BMPs).
This report is divided into three sections. Section I details the actual listening sessions. Section II makes recommendations for future actions. Section III provides rich details about individual practices through the use of case profiles.
Two hundred and twenty five people attended the listening sessions, spearheaded by the Montana Association of Conservation Districts and cosponsored by ten local Conservation Districts from Glendive to Corvallis. More than 92 techniques were described by individuals from agriculture, transportation, energy and public utilities, recreation, conservation, municipal and county governments, forestry, public land managers and small business. These results are reported in Section I of this document. More detailed notes from all listening sessions and focus groups can be found online at http://montanabmp.pbworks.com/
Implications and recommendations are also addressed in Section I, which looks at what the project results suggest for possible future actions. Given what was learned, the following recommendations are made to advance riparian protection, including the use of riparian BMPs, in the future.
Recommendation A: Develop and Enhance Riparian Education, Outreach & Technical Assistance
Action Step 1: Catalyze and support local, community-specific riparian protection education, outreach and technical assistance.
Action Step 2: Develop innovative, popular media using current technology.
Recommendation B: Create Opportunities for Collaborative Problem-solving
Action Step 3: Identify and forge additional partnerships.
Action Step 4: Explore a new frontier of riparian BMPs—land development and the building industry
Action Step 5: Clarify specific permit challenges and identify a process to address these challenges.
Recommendation C: Research, Assess and Train for Effective BMPs
Action Step 6: Validate effective BMP practices.
Action Step 7: Identify effective BMP models for replicability.
Action Step 8: Train riparian restoration/protection professionals and develop standards for systematic installation of effective riparian BMPs.
Recommendation D: Understand and Maximize the Economic Benefits of Protecting Riparian Areas
Action Step 9: Review economic literature and incentive programs and perform technical cost-benefit analysis for public and private settings.
Action Step 10: Compile and disseminate economic benefit information through channels identified in Recommendations A, B and C.
Action Step 11: Explore feasibility of developing a cost benefit assessment tool for use in the field.
Deeper insights into BMP implementation were obtained through numerous interviews summarized in Section II of this report. These profiles enrich the impressionistic stories from the listening sessions by delving deeper into the motivations, the challenges, and the lessons learned from representative sectors of the population and economy. All told, this report “takes the pulse” of the present state of “riparian literacy” in Montana, providing a qualitative overview of techniques in use.
This document should be of particular interest to members of the Governor’s Task Force for Riparian Protection, the Montana Association of Conservation Districts, watershed groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and local, state and federal agencies involved in riparian protection. The profiles in Section III may be of interest to citizens from the sectors which are covered within—agriculture, education and outreach, streamside property owners, etc.