Habitat Inventory

Spring Creek Inventory, near Ennis, Montana.

This spring creek is an exceptional feature on a large cattle ranch in Ennis, Montana. Historically, however, heavy grazing pressure and dewatering from irrigation had impacted the spring creek. Kingfisher Consulting was asked to conduct a baseline inventory to identify potential habitat limitations, and to develop a monitoring protocol that would serve as a guide to future management inputs. Remote data recorders maintain continuous records of water temperature, air temperature, and stream discharge; fish populations, macroinvertebrate populations, and riparian vegetation communities are sampled on a semi annual basis, and recommendations for grazing and irrigation are made based on the data from this monitoring. Currently, the ranch irrigation infrastructure is being dramatically improved as a direct result of records detailing conditions in the creek.