Montana Future Fisheries Improvement Program Grant Proposals Funded

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Over $190,000 in funding was approved by the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission in September for 13 Montana Future Fisheries Improvement Program projects. This funding will be matched by over $502,000 from outside sources. Private citizens, citizen groups, watershed groups and others submitted a total of 19 proposed projects. The Commission makes final decisions on funding requests after a 13-member citizen panel reviews proposals and submits funding recommendations for their consideration. Sponsors of approved projects enter into an agreement with FWP to maintain project improvements through responsible land-management practices. The Commission funded projects in the counties of: Granite, Missoula, Judith Basin, Ravalli, Jefferson, Powell, Stillwater, Cascade, and Valley. Also funded is a plan to provide aerators for a number of ponds in eastern Montana capable of supporting self-sustaining fisheries with sufficient supplies of oxygen over winter. The fisheries improvements funded will help westslope cutthroat, brown and rainbow trout, as well as walleye, bluegill, bass and yellow perch. Work includes: riparian fencing and re-vegetation, stream channel and spawning habitat improvements; stream bank stabilization using natural materials; fish passage over barriers and improvement to ponds to provide or improve fisheries. Applications for the next round of funding are due by Jan. 1, 2002 to the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Habitat Protection Bureau. Application forms are available from FWP regional offices in Kalispell, Missoula, Bozeman, Great Falls, Billings, Glasgow, Miles City or the Fisheries Division in Helena. The application is also on FWP’s web page under the Fishing section at fwp.state.mt.us. Any individual or group with a project designed to restore or enhance habitat for wild or native fish may apply for Future Fisheries Improvement Program funding. Applicants are encouraged to work with local FWP fisheries biologists. Landowners and other project partners usually share project costs, which extends Future Fisheries Improvement Program dollars. For more information on the Future Fisheries Improvement program, call (406) 444-2449 or write to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; Future Fisheries Improvement Program; P.O. Box 200701; Helena, MT 59620-0701.