The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has approved $1.8 million to build an isolation facility for westslope cutthroat trout at a fish hatchery on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks fisheries conservation manager Brian Marotz tells the Missoulian he’s been pushing the project for more than 10 years.
The improvements at the Sekokini Springs hatchery will allow the state to raise genetically different strains of westslope cutthroat and determine which do better in which environments to try to keep the state fish off the endangered species list.
Currently, the state raises one strain of westslope cutthroat at an Anaconda hatchery.
The money is part of $139 million the Bonneville Power Administration spends each year in four states to mitigate the effects of its dams.