Little Bitterroot Restoration Project

Much of the Reservation is still rural and agricultural in nature. Reservation lands face accelerated development pressures due to the proximity of rapidly growing urban centers at Missoula and Kalispell. Current activities and projects such as large-scale highway expansions and multiple wastewater facility upgrades will continue for many years to come. Resident population on the Reservation is projected to increase at an average rate of 424 to 463 new residents per year from 1994 to 2025 for a 50% increase in total resident population. Rural areas are now being subdivided and developed for residential, commercial, and light industrial use.

Nonpoint Source (NPS) pollution, unlike pollution from industrial and sewage treatment plants, comes from many diffuse sources. NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even our underground sources of drinking water. These pollutants include:

• Excess fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides from agricultural lands and residential areas;
   
• Oil, grease, and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production;
   
• Sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding streambanks;
   
• Salt from irrigation practices and acid drainage from abandoned mines;
   
• Bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet wastes, and faulty septic systems;

By reducing pollution inputs to tribal rivers and streams the NPS program is helping to restore these waters to a more natural state. One goal of this restoration work is to facilitate the re-introduction of native species such as Bull Trout. Bull Trout can only flourish in a narrow set of environmental conditions and their presence is indicative of a healthy watershed.