Bob Marshall Wilderness
Complex
5-year LAC monitoring period Summary
2003 - 2007
Past 5-year monitoring periods




1988
1993
1998
2003
–
–
–
–
1992
1997
2002
2007
Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex made up of Scapegoat,
Great Bear and Bob Marshall Wilderness Areas has just
completed the 4th 5-year monitoring period.
Complex managers emphasized resource condition monitoring
during this period and as a result completed a 94% inventory
or re-inventory of all known sites.
Resource Areas
Resource Area 1 – South Fork Flathead
Administrative Unit: Spotted Bear RD – Flathead NF
•Wilderness Area: Bob Marshall Wilderness
•Size: 538,000 acres
•Approximate miles of trail: 570 miles
•Number of Current sites with Impact ratings: 425 sites
Resource Area 2 – Spotted Bear River
Administrative Unit: Spotted Bear RD – Flathead NF
•Wilderness Areas: Bob Marshall & Great Bear Wildernesses
•Size: 95,000 acres
•Approximate miles of trail: 108 miles
•Number of Current sites with Impact ratings: 33 sites
Resource Area 3 – Middle Fork Flathead Administrative Unit: Spotted Bear & Hungry Horse RDs
•Wilderness Areas: Bob Marshall & Great Bear Wildernesses
•Size: 366,000 acres
•Approximate miles of trail: 387 miles
•Number of Current sites with Impact ratings: 382 sites
Resource Area 4 – Rocky Mountain Front
Administrative Unit: Rocky Mountain RD – Lewis & Clark NF
•Wilderness Areas: Bob Marshall & Scapegoat Wildernesses
•Size: 386,000 acres
•Approximate miles of trail: 458 miles
•Number of Current sites with Impact ratings: 264 sites
Resource Area 5 – Lincoln
Administrative Unit: Lincoln RD – Helena NF
•Wilderness Area: Scapegoat Wildernesses
•Size: 84,000 acres
•Approximate miles of trail: 98 miles
•Number of Current sites with Impact ratings: 81 sites
Resource Area 6 – Seeley Lake
•Wilderness Area: Scapegoat Wildernesses
•Size: 76,000 acres
•Approximate miles of trail: 82 miles
•Number of Current sites with Impact ratings: 104 sites
Administrative Unit: Seeley Lake RD – Lolo NF
Resource Areas
Opportunity Classes
The BMWC has been divided into
four Opportunity Classes (OC) to
provide a range of recreational
experiences for wilderness
visitors.
The Opportunity Classes vary
along a spectrum ranging from
pristine; little used areas (OCI) to
heavily used travel routes (OCIV).
The Complex-wide 5-year
monitoring report displays findings
across both Opportunity Classes
and Resource Areas.
Standards

Standards for Resource and Social Indicators by Opportunity Class
Opportunity
Class I
Indicators
Opportunity
Class II
Opportunity
Class III
Opportunity
Class IV
Social:
1. Number of trail
encounters with other
parties
80% probability of 0
encounters per day
80% probability of 1
or fewer encounters
per day
80% probability of 3
or fewer encounters
per day
80% probability of 5
or fewer encounters
per day
2. Number of other
parties camped within
sight or continuous
sound
80% probability of 0
parties per day
80% probability of 0
parties per day
80% probability of 1
or 0 parties per day
80% probability of 3
or fewer parties per
day
3. Area of barren core
(sq ft)*
100 sq ft permitted
500 sq ft permitted
1000 sq ft permitted
2000 sq ft permitted
4. Number of human
impacted sites per 640
acre area**
1
2
3
6
5. Number of human
impacted sites above a
particular condition
class index per 640 acres
No moderately or
highly impacted sites
per 640 acre area
Resource:
permitted
permitted
No more than (1)
moderately impacted
site and (0) highly
impacted sites per 640
acre area
permitted
No more than (2)
Moderately impacted
site and (0) highly
impacted sites per 640
acre area
permitted
No more than (3)
moderately impacted
site and (0) highly
impacted sites per 640
acre area
Summary
The 2003-2007 5-year Monitoring Report summarizes findings
for each of the 5 indicators by Resource Area and where
appropriate, Complex-wide. The report also includes a
management and noxious weed summary.
After this presentation, we will provide a forum for you to visit
with managers from each Resource Area and ask questions
about for your area of interest.
What follows is a general summary, please see the
Monitoring Report or the individual Resource Area
managers for more detail:
Trail
encounters with other parties
1. Number of trail
encounters with other
parties
80% probability of 0
80% probability of 1
80% probability of 3
Trail
Encounter
OpportunityorClass
the
encounters
per day% Probability
or fewer by
encounters
fewer for
encounters
Bob Marshall
Wilderness Complex
per day
per day
80% probability of 5
or fewer encounters
per day
Average % Probability
120.0%
96.8%
100.0%
99.4%
99.0%
OCIII
OCIV
85.4%
80.0%
60.0%
40.0%
20.0%
0.0%
OCI
OCII
Opportunity Class
BMWC Totals
OC
# of Days
Monitored
# of Days over
Standard
Average % Probability
I
198
29
85.4%
II
470
15
96.8%
III
1094
7
99.4%
IV
1519
15
99.0%

Other parties camped within site and sound
2. Number of other
parties camped within
sight or continuous
sound
BMWC Totals
80%
probability of 0
parties per day
80% probability of
0 parties per day
80% probability of
1 or 0 parties per
day
80% probability of
3 or fewer parties
per day
OC
# of Occupied
Campsites
Monitored
Camp Encounters
over Standard
Average %
Probability
I
2
0
100.0%
II
23
4
82.6%
III
63
2
96.8%
IV
219
1
99.5%

Area of barren core
Number of Sites with Barren Core Red Flags
3. Area of barren core
(sq ft)*
100 sq ftfor
permitted
500 sqWilderness
ft permittedComplex
1000 sq ft permitted
the Bob Marshall
2000 sq ft permitted
Number of Sites
50
40
34
30
24
20
17
16
10
0
OCI
OCII
OCIII
OCIV
Opportunity Class
OC
# Sites Monitored
# of Sites with High
Index Rating
# of Sites with Barren Core
Red Flags
BMWC
I
95
7
16
Totals
II
225
31
24
III
589
72
34
IV
644
86
17

Human impacted sites within 640 acres
4. Number of human
impacted sites per 640
acre area**
1
permitted
2
permitted
3
permitted
6
permitted
OC
# of 640 acre areas
exceeding standards
Total number of sites
within the 640 acre areas
I
11
30
II
15
64
III
36
202
IV
28
267

Human impacted sites by condition within 640 acres
5. Number of human
impacted sites above
a
particular condition
class index per 640
acres
No moderately or
highly impacted
sites
per 640 acre area
No more than (1)
moderately
impacted
site and (0) highly
impacted sites per
640
acre area
No more than (2)
Moderately impacted
site and (0) highly
impacted sites per
640
acre area
No more than (3)
moderately impacted
site and (0) highly
impacted sites per
640
acre area
OC
# of 640 acre areas
above a particular
condition class
Total # of Moderately
impacted sites
Total # of Highly
impacted sites
I
14
15
5
II
23
41
13
III
60
139
66
IV
35
178
57
The BIG Picture
Ranger District
Lincoln RD
Seeley Lake RD
Hungry Horse RD
Rocky MTN RD
Spotted Bear RD
BMWC Total
1991
Wilderness
Funding
Minimum funding needed to
implement Wilderness Mgmt
Objectives - 1991
$37,000
$106,900
$41,000
$128,500
$49,500
$90,000
$69,600
$240,000
$219,000
$463,000
$416,100
$1,028,400
2008
Wilderness
Funding
$20,000
$27,000
$36,000
$111,800
$212,000
$406,800
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Future Monitoring
Implementing Management Actions