EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS

Personnel Involved:
Steve Buckley - fluvial geomorphology
Mark Vander Meer - forestry, soils & riparian succession
Mike Koopal - fish habitat & fish life histories

Watershed Consulting offers lectures and workshops on watershed dynamics. We gave courses and seminars at Middlebury College, Vermont, and Salish & Kootenai College, MT. In contrast to other firms involved in stream restoration and bank stabilization, we emphasize that stream channels do change and stream banks do erode as a function of a given Rosgen stream type and a given flood magnitude. This erosion and deposition is essential for rejuvenation of both the riparian and fish habitat, since the species involved have evolved with, and are now dependent on such periodic changes. The goal and challenge is to analyze the natural frequency and magnitude of such changes, and to incorporate current land-uses into the system.

The current practice of stream restoration, despite various fancy terminologies, often results in over-stabilized stream channels and thus prevents future habitat development. Instead, we emphasize flood-prone (riparian) area stability with allowance for channel changes during floods of high magnitude. Our approach is based on unique analysis and integration of fluvial landforms, flooding frequency, riparian succession and fish habitat. To our knowledge, no other firm utilizes such an approach. Our experience includes work on rivers of all Rosgen types ranging from free-flowing C4's to G's and F's that developed during many centuries of landscape manipulation.

Watershed Consulting, Missoula, MT   |   Water Resources 406.662.0124   |   Forest Resources 406.541.2565   |