In the fall of 1996, Brendan Moynahan began work on a project whose main objectives were

• 1) to assess revegetation options for bank stabilization on the Upper Clark Fork River in Montana and
• 2) to develop recommendations for future revegetation projects and for future research aimed at stabilizing riverbanks of the Upper Clark Fork River.

The goals of this study were to determine if plant success (based on survival and growth) is affected by soil conditions and also to determine which, if any, planting methods are more successful than others.

This revegetation study was a part of a larger on-going Riverbank Stabilization Pilot Study on the Upper Clark Fork River which also began in the fall of 1996 under the Riparian and Wetland Research Program (RWRP) at the University of Montana. The Riverbank Stabilization Pilot Study is designed to measure, monitor, and compare changes in channel dimensions (e.g. width:depth ratio), channel movement (e.g. rate of lateral cutting), and vegetation (e.g. species and cover) within and between treatment reaches and between treatment and control reaches (Riparian and Wetland Research Program 1996a).

Much of the Upper Clark Fork River riverbanks are particularly susceptible to erosion, as woody vegetation is largely absent from many reaches due to livestock grazing, removal of vegetation along the floodplain for agricultural use, and the deposition of mine tailings associated with the 1908 and subsequent floods. The objectives of the Riverbank Stabilization Pilot Study are to evaluate the effectiveness of soft riverbank stabilization treatments, and to determine the efficacy of vegetation for reducing the rate and potential for bank erosion by establishing vegetation to stabilize vertical banks undergoing active lateral cutting (Clayton and others 1998). The Revegetation study contributes to the assessment of the soft riverbank stabilization treatments by evaluating the survival and growth of plant material using several different planting methods.

In December 1999, Brendan Moynahan completed the requirements for a Master's in Forestry and presented his final findings for the Clark Fork Revegetation Study. Brendan received his Ph.D. in Fish and Wildlife Biology at The University of Montana in 2004.

If you would like to read more about Brendan's Revegetation for Riverbank Stabilization of the Upper Clark Fork River project using the online interactive files, please click here.