Flathead River
Map of the Flathead River, its tributaries and the connection to the Columbia River on Clark Fork and Pend Oreille River
Lower reaches of the Flathead River
Middle Fork Flathead River at Essex, Montana
The Flathead River is a right tributary of the Clark Fork in the State of Montana.
It is located in the eastern Rocky Mountains and its valley is counted for transboundary Crown of the Continent Ecosystem.
The river begins at the confluence of two of its headwaters, the North Fork of the Flathead River and the Middle Fork Flathead River. Below this confluence still opens as a third source river of the South Fork of the Flathead River. The North Fork is the longest of the three arms and is sometimes considered part of the actual Flathead River.
The river is on the Clark Fork, which drains into Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River part of the catchment area of the Columbia River.
Parts of the three branches of the river are designated as a National Wild and Scenic River. His entire transboundary catchment area was excluded in February 2010 by the use of deposits of fuels such as coal and natural gas.
Run
North Fork of the Flathead River
The headwaters of the North Fork of the Flathead River is located in southeastern British Columbia in the Clark Range, which is part of the Rocky Mountains. It flows first east and then south to Montana, where it forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park.
In Montana, the North Fork flows in a southerly direction between the Whitefish Range and the Salish Mountains to the west and Livingston Range, Lewis Range, Flathead Range and Swan Range on the east side through. Tributaries of the North Fork of the Flathead River are among other Kintla Creek, Whale Creek, Bowman Creek, Quartz Creek, Coal Creek, Camas Creek and Big Creek. He then connects the Middle Fork Flathead River to the Flathead River.
In Montana, the North Fork of the Flathead River is designated as a National Wild and Scenic River. In British Columbia, he was long under any protection. This has led to three decades of dispute between the United States and Canada. 1988 decided the International Joint Commission that a proposed coal mine would violate the Treaty on the border waters from 1909.
The extraction of raw materials and energy was still as a threat for the North Fork, which was designated in 2004 by the New York Times as " the wildest river in the Continental United States ." BP refrained from 2008 to plans to recover methane gas from coal deposits, the Cline Mining Corporation planned by 2010 in the headwaters of the North Flathead to open a coal mine in mining. The plans were completed in February 2010, when the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Montana decided to permanently exclude the entire cross-border catchment area of the Flathead River from the exploitation of resources for energy production. Since then, a bill was introduced in the Congress of the United States to pick up an award oil and gas licenses on approximately 1000 km ². After this was slowed down in the Senate, the Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester, both Democrats from Montana, negotiates with the oil and gas companies and voluntary return of previously around 800 km ² ( November 2010) have achieved.
Middle Fork Flathead River
The Middle Fork Flathead River originates in a source area on the western side of the Continental Divide in Flathead County. In it, among other open Ole Creek, Nyack Creek and McDonald. It flows steadily to the northwest and joins the North Fork near West Glacier, from where he bears the name Flathead River without additives.
A large portion of the Middle Forks is designated as a National Wild and Scenic River. It drains parts of the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the Great Bear Wilderness in the Flathead National Forest. Its lower section is adjacent to the southern edge of Glacier National Park.
South Fork Flathead River
The South Fork of the Flathead River has its origins in Powell County, where different source water flow together. They include Gordon Creek, Danaher Creek and Youngs Creek. The river follows a roughly north and north- westerly course and collect various tributaries, including White River, Big Salmon Creek, Little Salmon Creek, Gorge Creek, Spotted Bear Creek and Sullivan Creek belong. The largest part of the upper South Fork is located in the Bob Marshall Wilderness of the Flathead National Forest.
The Hungry Horse Dam dammed the water at the lower part of the South Fork of the Flathead River on a well-known as Hungry Horse Reservoir dam. A few miles downstream of the dam empties at Hungry Horse of the southern arm into the main channel of the Flathead River.
Flathead River
The actual Flathead River, which is formed by the confluence of the North Fork and Middle Fork flows in a generally southward course. After a few miles is opens after the confluence and the South Fork Flathead River, the river passes through the cities of Columbia Falls and Kalispell. A creek in this section is the Stillwater River, in the Whitefish River discharges.
A few miles south of Kalispell, the Flathead River empties into the northern end of Flathead Lake. In these, the Swan River empties before the Flathead River leaves the lake at its south end at Polson again. Although the lake is of natural origin, its water level and river discharge is however determined by the Kerr Dam, which dams up the river a few kilometers from the lake.
Below the dam flows through the Flathead River continues southward directed the Flathead Reservation, between the Salish Mountains to the west and the Mission Mountains to the east of him. In this section, Little Bitterroot River, Crow Creek, Mission Creek and Jocko River flow and in the environment of the river there are two small National Wildlife Refuges ( Wildlife Areas ) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Below the Jocko Rivers turns the Flathead River to the west. It crosses the Salish Mountains to open at Paradise in the Clark Fork.
History
For about 7,500 years the area has been inhabited as archaeological remains reveal. Last known people of the North American Indians who settled in the area and still live, were the Flathead, after which the river was named. The white conquest began in the late 18th century. Fur traders from North West Company and Hudson 's Bay Company arrived at the beginning of the 19th century in this area. North of Flathead Lake, a trading post was established. The first settlers arrived in the 1860s and in 1880 began the agricultural irrigation.
Hydrographic
The United States Geological Survey operates in Perma near the confluence with the Clark Fork a level. In the long-term average, the average discharge is at this level 323 m³ / s The highest value of 1515 m³ / s was observed on 6 June 1997, the lowest recorded amount, 76 m³ / s on 29 May 1984.