Montana Code 77-5-301. Findings and purpose
77-5-301. Findings and purpose. (1) The legislature finds that the streamside management zone:
Terms Used In Montana Code 77-5-301
- Forest practices: means , within a timber sale, the harvesting of trees, road construction or reconstruction associated with harvesting and accessing trees, site preparation for regeneration of a timber stand, reforestation, and management of logging slash. See Montana Code 77-5-302
- Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
- Stream: means a natural watercourse of perceptible extent that has a generally sandy or rocky bottom or definite banks and that confines and conducts continuously or intermittently flowing water. See Montana Code 77-5-302
- zone: means a stream, lake, or other body of water and an adjacent area of varying width where management practices that might affect wildlife habitat or water quality, fish, or other aquatic resources need to be modified. See Montana Code 77-5-302
(a)acts as an effective sediment filter to maintain water quality;
(b)provides shade to regulate stream temperature;
(c)supports diverse and productive aquatic and terrestrial riparian habitats;
(d)protects the stream channel and banks;
(e)provides large, woody debris that is eventually recruited into a stream to maintain riffles, pools, and other elements of channel structure; and
(f)promotes flood plain stability.
(2)The legislature further finds that maintaining the integrity of forest streams is crucial to the quality and quantity of water available to Montanans for domestic, agricultural, industrial, and recreational use.
(3)The legislature further finds that forest streams are highly susceptible to impacts from land development and that in many cases forest practices in streamside zones in Montana are causing excessive and unnecessary damage to the banks, beds, and protective vegetation of forest streams.
(4)The legislature further finds that, through careful management in the streamside zone, owners and operators can achieve timber harvest goals without sacrificing water quality or impairing the beneficial uses of the water.
(5)The purposes of this part are:
(a)to protect the legitimate public interest in the quality and quantity of forest waters;
(b)to provide for standards, oversight, rehabilitation, and penalties to ensure that forest practices are conducted in a manner that conserves the integrity of Montana’s streamside zones;
(c)to provide guidelines for the management of wildlife habitat in streamside zones; and
(d)to allow operators necessary flexibility to use practices appropriate to site-specific conditions in the streamside management zone.