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COVER
CUTTHROAT CONSERVATION
RISING
TO THE
On a recent summer evening as the waning light danced over the South Fork Flathead River, a ash of red burst onto an angler’s may y pattern and a native westslope cutthroat trout rose through the slippery surface, its speckled mosaic of colors suspended in bril- liant relief against the valley’s steep, re-scorched banks.
Wallpapered with a mix of blackened lodge- pole and clusters of radiant reweed, the charred remains of last year’s Bear Creek wild re o ered a stark contrast to the river corridor’s oasis of crys- talline water, burnished bottom stones and wild, purebred trout.
And yet here they thrive.
FUTURE
Conservation e orts to re-establish genetically pure cutthroat populations pioneer a path to protection BY TRISTAN SCOTT
In these cold, clear waters, the sh are hard- wired to persist in often harsh but pristine condi- tions, equipped with genetic adaptations they’ve
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JULY 6, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM