MONITORING NOXIOUS WEEDS INVASIONS IN RIPARIAN AREAS FOLLOWING LIVESTOCK EXCLUSION OF THE UPPER BIG HOLE RIVER VALLEY: ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT UNDER THE CANDIDATE CONSERVATION AGREEMENT WITH ASSURANCES PROJECT

As a 2008 summer intern working for the Nature Conservancy, I arrived in the Big Hole Valley and was introduced to an innovative federal land management program initiated to benefit government land managers, local ranchers, and the general public while increasing ecological integrity in the valley and recovering the fluvial Arctic grayling species. The government program offered funding assistance to local ranchers for conservation projects that would help recover the species, but the landowner had to agree to a few stipulations; among them are riparian enclosures fenced for 5 years to exclude all domestic grazing. The goal of this project is to report on the findings of the weeds (specifically Canada thistle) monitoring project established on private riparian lands rested from grazing as a result of the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) program