Page 63 - Flathead Beacon // 12.30.15

MOUNTAIN EXPOSURE
OUTDOORS IN BRIEF
Sunset Hike on Lone Pine for New Year
Park sta at Lone Pine State Park invites the public to join them for First Day Hike along the forested trails in the park at sunset.
The hike is approximately 1 to 2 miles, and will start at 5 p.m. on Jan. 1. Because it’s a sunset hike, participants have the chance to see the resident animals settling in for the night and to watch the rst sunset of the year.
Sta will provide short, inter- pretive stops for the hikers. Par- ticipants should dress appropri- ately for the weather, with study hiking shoes or boot, a ashlight, and a water bottle. Trekking poles and boot traction are recom- mended. If there’s enough snow, the hike could include snowshoe- ing o trail, so bring snowshoes. Dogs are welcome on a leash.
For more information, call the park visitor center at 406-755-2706.
Smith Lake Ice Fishing Derby a Success
The 45th annual Lions Club Smith Lake Ice Fishing Derby was a success, with anglers landing hundreds of sh on a sunny day.
The derby took place on Dec. 26, with children making up the majority of the crowd. The sh included hundreds of small pike and fewer numbers of perch. Starting out rather chilly, the day brightened when the sun started to shine.
As a public service to the com- munity, the derby provides a way to raise funds to donate to family shing pond programs. Anglers also donated some of the pike to the Hooked on Fishing program, for dissection exercises.
Here’s a list of derby winners:
•Largest Pike: 2 lbs., 3 oz.; Gage Crawford (4 years old)
•Smallest Pike: 113 grams (0.25 lbs); Matthew Tobiason
• Largest Perch: Cody Tveidt, 499 grams (1.1 lbs.)
• Smallest Perch: 83 grams (.18 lbs.); Colter Jensen
Going on an adventure? If you would like to be featured in “Mountain Exposure,” email information to news@ atheadbeacon.com.
OUT OF BOUNDS ROB BREEDING FISH OF THE WEST
YEARS AGO I ATTENDED A MON- tana Fish, Wildlife and Parks meeting at the Kalispell Center Mall. The topic that evening was a pro- posal to poison lakes in the upper South Fork drainage to eliminate non-native sh and replace them with the trout found there before we started doing what we always do when come to a new place: stocking waters with our favorite sh.
The native trout was the westslope cutthroat. The non-native was the rain- bow trout, today quite possibly the most sought after game sh in Montana. Rain- bows have been introduced in almost every Montana water where they are found today. The exception is the Koo- tenai River, which just nicks the state’s northwest corner. Only there are rain- bows true Montana natives.
The crowd reaction at that meeting at the mall was mixed. A lot of folks weren’t happy with the plan. One opponent held above his head a mounted sh caught in the disputed waters — I think it was a cuttbow but I don’t remember for sure — that probably pushed 10 pounds.
Others weren’t happy with the plan because they didn’t think it went far enough. The sh intended to restock the lakes were pure strain westslope cutthroats, but they were a wild strain that came from a hatchery. The purists wanted the lakes to be restocked with cutthroats captured from within the South Fork drainage, preserving as much of the distinct DNA of the native sh as possible.
I’m not sure either side got exactly what they wanted, but the restoration project seems to be a success. The poi- son used, Rotenone, is a safe, natural chemical that is produced by plants in the Amazon. PETA people and other animals rights activists pretend otherwise, but Rotenone has been a key component in the safe restoration of many threatened or endangered sh in the west.
Those early sh introductions we cur- rently nd ourselves working so hard to
undue were usually the work of state sh- eries biologists, a point restoration oppo- nents like to make whenever they get the chance. Yeah, we all know the state introduced mysis shrimp into the Flat- head drainage and eventually Flathead Lake, and how that water became one of the West’s most extensive laboratories for the unintended consequences of ran- dom species introductions.
But that’s really a moot point. We know a heck of a lot more about biology than we did 50 or 100 years ago. We’ve also made the decision as a nation that we value native species and intend to preserve them. That’s an ethic we codi ed into law with the Endangered Species Act. If you really have a problem with projects such as the one on the South Fork there’s a remedy: convince Congress to pass, and the president to sign a law repealing the ESA.
These days the problem usually isn’t state-sponsored bucket biology, it’s folks who have decided to bring their sh along with them. Bass and walleye, for instance. These are ne sh, but if it’s important to you to sh for them on a regular basis, you really should move to Alabama or Minne- sota rather than illegally dumping them in the Montana water of your choosing.
It’s no secret that fans of these sh are catching them elsewhere, lling their live wells, and bringing them here. This kind of bucket biology used to be what passed for sheries management. We lled lakes with sh folks liked to catch. Today — because society has decided that native sheries have a value that transcends the desires of some hardcore anglers — some- times we get rid of sh folks like because the sh just don’t belong here.
The waters of the Flathead are lled with non-native sh. Only a fool would believe that someday all of those non-na- tives will be gone. But anglers who try to impose their preferences on the rest of us are only endangering what’s left of wild Montana.
Win Me!
*Rifle shown with scope / scope not included / Cerakote color may differ from photo. See rifle at Sportsmans Kalispell
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$20/ticket, $100 for six 100% of proceeds bene t the Samaritan House
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PROOF Ri e on display at Sportsman Ski Haus Gun Department Kalispell Store. / Tickets may be purchased
at the customer service desk with cash or check made out to Samaritan House. ( sorry no credit cards ) Tickets also available at all Western Building Center locations.
Drawing to be held February 15, 3:00pm, at the Sportsmans Ski Haus, Kalispell location.
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DECEMBER 30, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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