Conserving Native Fish, and Saving the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout, in Yellowstone National Park

(See 1/24/2012 update here).

John Ellsworth will give presentations on saving the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout at Trout Unlimited chapter meetings in Idaho Falls and Pocatello.  The Idaho Falls meeting is January 11, 2012 and Pocatello will be on January 12.  John is the Vice President of the Idaho Council of Trout Unlimited and is coordinating the Idaho portion of the three state effort (ID, MT, WY) on the Yellowstone Lake cutthroat trout restoration efforts that have become a top priority for Trout Unlimited.

Native fish conservation is now a major emphasis in Yellowstone National Park. The native Yellowstone cutthroat trout population in Yellowstone Lake and its ecosystem is now reduced to less than 10% of its historic population due primarily to depredation by illegally introduced lake trout in Yellowstone Lake. There are literally hundreds of thousands of lake trout estimated in the system now, and each one consumes an average of 41 native cutthroat trout annually!

The National Park Service has accelerated and augmented their efforts to suppress lake trout populations by employing commercial gill and trap netting. Hydro-acoustic telemetry tagging and tracking of lake trout in Yellowstone Lake began in summer 2011 in order to determine lake trout movements and spawning beds locations.

Under a proposed Memorandum of Understanding with Yellowstone National Park, a coalition team of representatives from Trout Unlimited (ID, WY, and MT Councils and chapters as well as TU national), the National Parks Conservation Association, the US Geological Survey, and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, is working to conserve the park’s native fish and save the Yellowstone cutthroat trout. This work is part of the TU National Leadership Council Western Native Trout Workgroup.

The coalition’s main goal is to raise funds to support Yellowstone National Park’s efforts to conserve native fish and save the Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Trout Unlimited Idaho Council and Chapters have raised significant funds already, but much more are needed.  Opportunities and options for individual and group donations to help support these efforts will be described and made available after the presentations.

If you can’t make it to one of John’s presentations, or just don’t want to wait to help save the native Yellowstone cutthroat trout in our nation’s first and most beloved National Park, please consider making a donation now. You can send a check made out to: Idaho Council of Trout Unlimited, P.O. Box 1971, Boise, ID 83701 (write “Save the Yellowstone Cutthroats” on the memo line of the check).  Suggested donation levels are tied to prices of the specific equipment needed to complete the telemetry tracking research: $400 (buys one standard hydro-acoustic telemetry tag), $700 (buys one depth-recording hydro-acoustic telemetry tag), and $1,400 (buys one signal receiver), but of course any amount you can afford to donate is deeply appreciated!  For further information, contact John Ellsworth, Vice President of Idaho Council of Trout Unlimited, at johnsworth123 at yahoo dot com.  Thank you in advance for helping us “Save the Yellowstone Cutthroats”!

Trout Unlimited seeks collaboration to recover Snake River salmon and steelhead

SEATTLE—Trout Unlimited announced today that it is asking permission from the federal district court in Portland to withdraw as a plaintiff from a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation over the agencies’ inadequate plans to recover Columbia and Snake River salmon runs, opting instead to seek resolution through a collaborative forum involving all major stakeholders.

Since the mid-1990s, TU and a diverse group of conservation and fishing interests have successfully challenged every plan issued by the federal agencies to offset the enormous harm federal hydroelectric dams inflict on wild salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia and Snake rivers – most recently this past summer.

“Without question, this litigation has been pivotal in obtaining improvements in dam operations and fish habitat that have helped slow the decline of wild salmon and steelhead,” said Chris Wood, TU’s president and CEO. “But slowing decline isn’t enough. We need to recover these remarkable fish, and one way to do that is to sit down with the people most affected by salmon recovery and work out an agreement that meets their economic needs while recovering these fish of enormous cultural, economic and ecologic value.”

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Coming together to protect the backcountry

By Jim Risch and Chris Wood

October marks the fifth anniversary of the state of Idaho’s petition to develop its own rule governing the management of backcountry inventoried roadless areas on national forests within the state. When the petition was issued, it might have seemed unlikely that the two of us—one of whom helped write the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, and the other who litigated against it—would find ourselves commemorating the success of an Idaho-specific roadless rule five years later. The fact that we are is a testament to the power of collaboration and of problem-solving approaches to contentious natural resource issues.

What’s more, our success on this issue occurred as the courtroom battle over the 2001 Roadless Rule rages on. The most recent decision from the 10th Circuit Court reinstates the rule, but we have no doubt that legal maneuvers will continue.

What brought us together was the realization that Idaho’s backcountry areas are too important to allow political bickering to compromise some of the best fish and wildlife habitat and hunting and angling opportunities on the planet. Shortly after Idaho petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop the Idaho rule, numerous meetings were held throughout the state, seeking comments from each and every stakeholder including commissioners from all affected counties. With input from timber companies, counties, conservation interests and others, Idaho crafted a rule to manage and protect, where appropriate, the state’s 9 million acres of national forest roadless areas. The Idaho rule was put into effect in 2008. Today Idaho enjoys arguably the strongest protection for roadless areas in the United States.

Thanks to the Idaho Roadless Rule, Idaho has protected some of the best big-game hunting and longest hunting seasons in the region. Unlike other states, hunters in Idaho don’t have to wonder if they will draw an elk tag, because Idaho offers over-the-counter tags for backcountry hunts. Likewise, anglers can enjoy Idaho’s high-country lakes and cool mountain streams that teem with wild and native trout. As a result, the lands protected by the Idaho rule help sustain an $808 million hunting, fishing and wildlife-associated recreation economy in the state.

Conservation is most durable when it involves the widest array of interests. By genuinely listening to everyone’s concerns and interests, we were able to balance and craft a roadless rule that met the needs of county commissioners, conservation enthusiasts, timber interests, recreation users and others. The process produced a close working relationship we call collaborative stewardship. It moved away from the tired battles between environmentalists and land users where competing interests are pitted against each other and it affirmed President Theodore Roosevelt’s belief that conservation should result in the application of common sense to common problems for the common good.

We believe collaborative stewardship could help to resolve other long-standing vexing natural resource challenges. Few issues, for example, have been more contentious than the recovery of Pacific salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest. For 10 years, lawyers have filed briefs over the adequacy of a recovery plan for salmon. Recent increases in the numbers of returning salmon have done nothing to slow that debate.

The answers to this challenge need not be decided in court. As the Idaho Roadless Rule demonstrates, we can continue to find long-term solutions that are good for fish and people by bringing together those who are affected and creating a dialogue.

While the Idaho roadless petition was issued in 2006, the final rule was not published until 2008. It took time to travel the state seeking input from the public, land users and all stakeholders and to build consensus among interest groups who often disagree over natural resource issues. But in the end, we were able to achieve a result that will benefit generations of Americans. Collaborative stewardship is not fast and it certainly is not easy, but if the objectives are meeting the needs of people while protecting the health of the land, it is the right way to go and the right thing to do.

Jim Risch, elected a U.S. Republican senator for Idaho in 2008, is a former governor of Idaho; Chris Wood is the president and CEO of Trout Unlimited, with national headquarters in Arlington, Va.

Big Wood River Fish Rescue

If you would like to join the Hemingway Trout Unlimited chapter fish rescue project for some wet and wild fishing fun you are welcome to join us at 3:00 pm today (Tuesday) at the Shell Gas Station in Bellevue.   The Nature Conservancy greatly appreciates this annual event because it helps recover rainbow trout that become trapped in the Oct 31 draw-down of irrigation ditches in the area.   This year we have a IDFG permit to transfer the rainbows to the Heart Rock Ranch where Crystal Creek, Spring Creek and Willow Creek have been restored to beautiful trout habitat that is just waiting for these fish.    Next spring the adult rainbows will spawn in the tributaries to the Big Wood River and benefit the entire trout fishery.     Volunteers—Bring waders and 5-gal buckets if you have them.   We will have additional buckets and nets to supply you.  If you have long handled rubber fish nets bring them too.  The fish will be put in an aerated transfer tank and moved quickly to the receiving water.    Keep posted for any continued trout recovery on Nov 1-2 as well.