Journey with us as we take a close-up look at the river’s hydrology, its natural history, and the role that humans have played in the valley since time immemorial. The DVD explores in detail the hydrology, habitat, fish, and Salish and Pend d'Oreille culture and history and their current efforts to restore the Jocko River.
An Interactive Exploration of Fish and Water through Science and the Cultural Knowledge of Tribal Elders
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation have undertaken a large-scale watershed restoration project to benefit bull trout and other native species in the Jocko River drainage. This DVD is the centerpiece of the educational component of the project. The DVD is a multimedia set of interactive educational materials describing the ecology and importance of bull trout and the species relationship with the Salish and Pend d’Oreille people.
It combines extensive text, video, multilayered maps indicating changes over time, interviews, animations, audio, and access to a large number of resources of relevance to the project. It integrates scientific information about bull trout, state-of-the-art restoration strategies and techniques, and extensive historical information about the importance of fish to the Tribes, with information from Tribal elders about the Tribes’ long-term relationship with bull trout. In all, the DVD contains more than sixty hours of material and is structured so it can reach multiple audiences, from children to adults.
Explore the screen shots below or watch videos of the DVD in action.
River flows in the Jocko are at the foundation of a much larger natural balance in which many other elements interact, including landscape processes, sediments, nutrients, and ultimately, the lives of everything from cottonwoods to bull trout to grizzly bears to people. Understanding the river’s hydrology and how it affects landscape processes—the river’s geomorphology—is key to understanding the river. The DVD explores the parts of a stream, attributes of a healthy stream, a watershed map, stream gages, and hydrographs.
In the Northern Rockies, quality aquatic habitat for native fish and wildlife can be summed up in four words Cold, Clean, Complex, and Connected. The DVD explores these attributes in depth. This page is an explanation of complex habitats—the importance of having a natural mix of pools, riffles, runs, and glides, quiet water, spring-fed channels, beaver ponds, and groundwater upwellings. The section stresses the importance of each kind of habitat, that each provides something native trout and insects need, that each is part of a healthy stream.
The DVD also looks at aquatic insect habitats, insect functional groups, and the river continuum concept. Students learn about shredders, collectors, and predators, and how they fit within the food web. The habitat section also explores the importance and characteristics of a healthy riparian zone.
The Fish section includes in-depth profiles of all the species found in the Jocko River, which are also found in most streams in the Northern Rockies. Students can view underwater video of fish, manipulate 3-D models of each species, and learn identifying characteristics. They can study details of salmonid anatomy (external, skeletal, muscle, and internal), and explore the life history of bull trout, from spawning and incubation to juvenile rearing, migration, and subadult and adult behavior.
The rivers, streams, and lakes of the Salish, Pend d’Oreille, and Kootenai were rich in fish, many of which played crucial roles in the traditional diet and culture. The Culture and History section of the DVD includes a photo gallery of traditional fishing tools and in-depth videos of how those tools were made—cordage, a fish trap, a fish spear, and a fish hook. And once students watch the videos, they can make their own tool, virtually. This screen shot is from the virtual construction of a fish spear. In this particular part of the construction process, the student moves the drill bow to drill a hole into which the end of the spear will go.
While bull trout played a vital role in the diets and culture of the Salish and Pend d’Oreille people, they, and fish in general, did not provide the majority of the caloric intake of Salish or Pend d’Oreille people. Bison, deer, elk, and other game filled that role. But because fish were always available, even during the harsh, long winters, and available in almost every part of the tribes’ territories, they played a critical part in the success and stability of the Tribes. The Culture and History Section includes a sweeping and detailed essay on the relationship between the Salish and Pend d'Oreille and bull trout. The essay breaks new ground in our understanding of the importance of fish to the tribes of the northern Rockies.
The Culture section also includes several hours of interviews with Salish and Pend d'Oreille elders during which they talk about the traditional use and importance of water and fish. They talk about fishing techniques and tools, about drying and cooking fish, about how rivers were used for transportation, and about the changes they have witnessed in their lifetimes—the straightening of stream channels, water pollution, over grazing and the loss of riparian cover, and the introduction of non-native species. Most of the interviews are in Salish with English subtitles.
One hundred years is not a very long time, not when you consider that the Salish and Pend d’Oreille have lived here for thousands of years. In fact, one hundred years is just a couple human lifetimes. One hundred years has been enough time, though, for us to bring dramatic changes to the Jocko River. This section explores those changes, from alterations to the land and vegetation bordering streams, to the straightening and constricting of channels, to disconnecting the river from its floodplain, to the introduction of non-native species.
Today the Jocko River is a different river than what it was 100 years ago. Just one example is water temperature. In July of 1901 the temperature of the water where the river flows through Ravalli was 58° F. Today it averages almost 65°. High water temperatures can be lethal for our native species. The DVD shows how some of our activities have taken a toll on the fish and wildlife of the river and the natural processes within the river itself. Understanding the changes is key to knowing how to restore the river. This section of the DVD explores a century of change through photos, interactive maps, and animations.
This part of the DVD explores stream restoration. It teaches that the first step of restoration should always be an assessment of the watershed’s environmental history and an identification of the activities that led to the degraded conditions. The second step should be to identify the best available remaining habitats and protect them. The third step should be to modify the activities that caused the degradation or that will prevent the ecosystem from recovering. This is called passive restoration. Finally, where the damage to the stream has been so great that passive restoration is not enough, some kind of active restoration is required.
In the Restoration section of the DVD, students not only learn about passive and active restoration measures, they actually restore a stream. This virtual restoration involves putting a stream back into its historical channel, stabilizing the banks with rootwads and large woody debris, placing grade-control structures (as shown in this screen shot), and replanting the floodplain with native vegetation.
Click on the Video Thumbnails to View Samples of the DVD in Action
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA-4qJwMK1s
Fish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMUAVtmOJNA
Culture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6qwrj2EiRU
Restoration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv3asQCVx64
Habitat
Natural Resources Department
Box 278
Pablo, MT 59855
