BLM-MT Bird Inventory and Monitoring: Large Scale Riparian Monitoring and Responses to Land Management Actions

Background: The Missouri River system is the largest/longest river and riparian system in the state of Montana. Continued inventory and monitoring is necessary to determine the effects of flow regulation on riparian habitats and organisms. Further, mitigation, restoration, general land­use, or habitat improvement actions conducted by land management agencies need a monitoring component to understand what effect the action has on habitat and bird populations. These actions would include Russian Olive removal in the Missouri River, prescribed burns, thinning treatments, riparian exclosures, research into the effects of recreation, and any other actions that may alter habitat. Objectives: Support understanding the effects of river regulation and other land management actions on riparian habitat, bird distribution, and population dynamics though time. Public Benefit: This project will support a large publicly available inference scale for migratory birds and associated riparian habitats across all ownerships along the entire Madison­Missouri River system. Utilizing this information will appropriately address more local scale effects on migratory birds such as Russian Olive removal and other management actions.