For those interested in learning more about a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks plan to treat lakes with rotenone in an effort to stabilize native westslope cutthroat populations, there is a public meeting next week on Tuesday, May 12. I have been to meetings in the past and it’s clear this is a sensitive issue for many. To begin with, most people aren’t familiar with rotenone, the naturally occurring chemical with fish-killing properties being used in the lake treatment. These meetings are a chance to learn more about rotenone, the process and any other questions people have.
Here’s the press release from FWP:
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) will conduct a public informational meeting on the Westslope Cutthroat Trout Conservation Project on Tuesday, May 12, 5-9 p.m. at the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Office on North Meridian Road in Kalispell. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. with an open house where FWP Biologists will be on hand to explain the project and answer questions. The formal public meeting begins at 7 p.m. with an informational presentation. Biologists will summarize the successful 2008 treatments of Lower Big Hawk Lake and Graves Creek and the post-treatment monitoring and restocking of Black and Blackfoot lakes.
In summer 2008, Black and Blackfoot lakes were restocked with westslope cutthroat trout, including fish up to 12 inches in length. These larger fish are stocked the summer following treatment in order to provide a recreational fishery and reestablish natural reproduction in the lakes. Lower Big Hawk Lake was treated with rotenone in fall 2008 and will be restocked this summer after ice out with three age classes of westslope cutthroat trout. Biologists will continue to monitor these lakes to evaluate fish growth and abundance.
Plans will also be discussed for the fall 2009 treatments of Clayton and Margaret lakes. Both lakes were historically stocked with nonnative rainbow and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Removal of these fish is necessary to eliminate the hybridization risk that they pose to the remaining populations of westslope cutthroat trout in the South Fork Flathead drainage. During the lake treatments trail access to Clayton and Margaret lakes will be closed for public safety. Montana Fish Wildlife, and Parks has proposed lifting the harvest limits on Clayton and Margaret lakes prior to treatment in order to allow the public an increased opportunity for harvest. This proposal will be discussed at the FWP Commission meeting in May.
The purpose of the Westslope Cutthroat Trout Conservation Project is to conserve native westslope cutthroat trout in the South Fork of the Flathead River, which is the major stronghold for westslope cutthroat trout in Montana. Maintaining the genetic purity of this keystone population will be important in keeping the westslope cutthroat under state management. The project, funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, treats high mountain lakes in the late fall using rotenone, a fish toxicant, to remove hybrid fish. The hybrid fish are removed so they won’t interbreed with westslope cutthroat trout downstream in the South Fork of the Flathead River. The treated lakes are restocked the following spring with pure westslope cutthroat trout. Genetic testing will help guide the order of lakes to be treated. Biologists may be able to reach genetic goals on some lakes by over-planting native cutthroat trout (known as “swamping”) rather than using rotenone.
For more information on these projects please contact Matt Boyer at 751-4556 or by email, [email protected]. Additional information can also be found on the project website: http://fwp.mt.gov/r1/wctproject/default.html.