Lower North Raven River Fishery Assessment
Author(s)
Calvin McLeod and Mike Rodtka
Summary
The Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) has been responsible for management and maintenance of Buck for Wildlife (BFW) Streambank Fencing projects through the Fisheries Habitat Development Program since the ACA's inception in 1997. In response to concerns related to a lack of clear focus for the ACA's riparian programs and the funding necessary for maintenance of existing projects, a new BFW East Slopes Riparian Management Strategy was developed in 2000 (McLeod 2000). An integral component of the Riparian Management Strategy was to, 'evaluate [existing projects] to determine the cost of project maintenance relative to the benefit to the resource' (McLeod 2000). In an effort to begin this evaluation process, fisheries assessments were conducted on project streams in the Rocky Mountain House area in 2001. These streams included Clear Creek, Vetch Creek, and the lower North Raven River. Current survey methods attempted to replicate those of previous studies performed on that particular stream for comparative purposes. The remainder of this report will deal with the lower North Raven River assessment only.