My colleagues at Trout Unlimited have supplied several examples of Western roadless areas that are vital for trout and salmon resources as well as for big game. The Blackfoot drainage has some of the healthiest populations of migratory bull and cutthroat trout in Montana. The three most important spawning tributaries for bull trout are Monture Creek, the North Forth and the Landers Fork. Large portions of these watersheds are roadless. Bull trout are uncommon in heavily roaded drainages of the Blackfoot drainage.
Rock Creek is one of the most popular wild trout fisheries in the state.
Approximately half of the watershed is roadless. Biologists have found that most of the important spawning and rearing areas for bull trout are in waters flowing through roadless areas such as the Quigg Peak and Stony Mountain areas. The majority of the remaining pure-strain native westslope cutthroats in the upper Missouri drainage, where these fish hang on by a thread, are in roadless areas found along the Rocky Mountain Front, in the Elkhorns, in the upper Big Hole watershed and in the roadless fragments found near the Continental Divide. In these cases roadless habitats seem to be the only thing standing in the way of listing under the Endangered Species Act, and loss of state control of the resource. Effects on Hunting and Fishing and The Local Economy Fish and wildlife resources found on National Forests, such as those highlighted above, sustain hunting and fishing recreation that is extremely valuable to local economies.