Public Informational Meeting On The Westslope Cutthroat Trout Conservation Project Coming Up Wednesday, May 14

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Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) will conduct a public informational meeting on the Westslope Cutthroat Trout Conservation Project on Wednesday, May 14, 5-9 p.m. at the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Office on North Meridian Road in Kalispell.

The May 14 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 2007 treatments of Black and Blackfoot lakes in the Jewel Basin area. Interested persons can review these treatments at the following website address: <http://fwp.mt.gov/r1/wctproject/laketreatment/default.html>

Plans will also be discussed for the next treatment, which is planned for Big Hawk Lakes in September of 2008. The public will be invited to ask questions about the project.

The Westslope Cutthroat Trout Conservation Project will treat up to 21 high mountain lakes spread over a 10-year period (about two lakes per year) in the late fall using rotenone, a fish toxicant, to remove hybrid fish. The hybrid fish will be removed so they won’t interbreed with westslope cutthroat trout downstream in the South Fork of the Flathead River. The treated lakes will then be restocked the following spring with pure westslope cutthroat trout. Biologists will use continued genetic testing to help guide the order of lakes to be treated. The purpose of the 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 underwent public review processes for five years and was approved after an FWP environmental assessment and a federal environmental impact statement developed by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the Flathead National Forest. The project is funded by BPA through the Hungry Horse Dam fisheries mitigation program.

All treated lakes will be evaluated for reestablishment of plankton, insect, and amphibian populations and the restocked fisheries will be monitored for survival and growth rates of fish. For more information, contact FWP at 752-5501.