Spring Creek Summit held at Silver Creek

Spring Creek Summit

On May 29th and 30th, the Nature Conservancy hosted a diverse and amazing group of scientists, academics, consultants, and agency folks at Silver Creek for a Spring Creek Summit.

Despite the unique nature of spring creek ecosystems surprisingly little published research is available to guide land managers, the scientific community and the private sector in their management and restoration. Using the Silver Creek watershed as a catalyst, The Nature Conservancy hoped to advance a common understanding of spring creek ecology, hydrogeomorphology, and fisheries to help guide long-term management decisions and elevate the "state-of-the-knowledge" in the Intermountain West. To initiate this process, TNC convened a group of regional scientists, TNC land managers, and private sector consultants in a managed forum, the Spring Creek Summit 2008.

Many pressing issues were discussed with the goal in mind of working towards developing a spring creek habitat assessment tool, restoration guidelines, and monitoring protocols that can provide guidance for landowners and partners engaging in habitat enhancement projects in spring creek aquatic systems. Specifically for Silver Creek, these tools will assist TNC and partners in creating a common vision and understanding for this important watershed.

A summary of the event will be available soon at savesilvercreek.org.

Thank you to all the participants:
Briana Corry-Schults (MSU student), Christopher Cuhaciyan (UI), Chris Hoag (USDA), Doug Megargle (IDFG), Johnnie Moore (UM), Mark Hill (Ecosystem Sciences), Scott Gillilan (Gillilan Associates), Shannon Campbell (Ecosystem Sciences), Dayna Gross (TNC), Scott Stanton (DEQ), Michael McINtyre (DEQ), Terry Blau (IDWR), Terry Maret (USGS), Trish Klahr (TNC), Trent Stumph (Sawtooth Environmental), Will Miller (Will Miller Consulting), Jock Conyngham (USACE).