2009 Fish stories:   

The top news affecting Idaho’s native trout and salmon in 2009, including some stories less known and reported.  Compiled by Idaho Trout Unlimited.

1. Idaho’s Salmon and Steelhead runs fate in the hands of Judge James Redden and the Obama Administration.  The new Administration reviewed the Federal plan for management of the hydroelectric dams and largely endorsed the product of the Bush Administration.  Judge Redden held court in November on the plan and is expected to issue a decision in early 2010.
2. A record steelhead run returns to Idaho in the fall of 2009, including the best wild steelhead numbers seen since the mid 1960s.
3. The Obama Administration endorses the Idaho Roadless Rule that was adopted in late 2008, a regulation that protects nine million acres of National Forest Roadless Areas including many important strongholds for native cutthroat, bull trout and salmon and steelhead populations.
4. The state of Idaho declares war on invasive species such as quagga mussels, imposes a sticker requirement on most boats and rafts, and implements widespread inspections at major waterways and ports of entry.
5. Snake River Sockeye Salmon mark a second year of hundreds of adult fish returning to the Stanley Basin.  As Recently as the 1990s most annual adult returns were in single digits.
6. An underreported losing streak continues as Idaho’s wild Snake River spring and summer Chinook salmon return at lower numbers, barely replacing the previous generation of fish that spawned four and five years ago.  After the record adult returns in 2001 many thought the run was rebuilding, but from 2005 – 2008 there were four years of successive losses from one generation to the next.  2009 barely staunched the bleeding.
7. Idaho Trout Unlimited and its member chapters, in partnership with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, brought new focus to the next generation of anglers and conservationists by breaking previous records for its Trout in the Classroom Programs, teaching thousands of Idaho students about the necessity of clean, cold water to sustain Idaho’s signature fisheries, and by launching Idaho’s first Trout Camp for youth anglers.
8. Henry’s Fork Foundation celebrates its 25^th Anniversary of protecting the most famous fly fishing water in the United States.  A highlight of the year is the funding of the retrofit of Chester Dam with fish passage as part of a hydroelectric add-on to the dam which historically diverted water (and fish) into two canals.
9. Trout Unlimited and the Salmon-Challis National Forest were recognized with a Rise to the Future national award by the Chief of the Forest Service for the work to repair habitat and reconnect sections of the Lost River.
10. Path breaking genetic research of southwest Idaho’s premiere wild trout stream – the South Fork of the Boise River – reveals the population depends in part on its connection to the Middle and North forks of the Boise River through Arrowrock Reservoir.  Land and fisheries managers and anglers now recognize that the South Fork fishery needs to be considered part of a larger system, not just a ten mile section of blue ribbon fishing waters.