In May 2006, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (MFWP), along with Bonneville Power Administration and the Forest Service, issued their Records of Decision for the Environmental Impact Statement for the South Fork Flathead Westslope Cutthroat Trout Conservation Program. The purpose of this program is to protect the genetic purity of westslope cutthroat trout in the South Fork Flathead by removing hybrid trout from headwater lakes and restocking with genetically pure westslope cutthroat trout. To address the issue, the three agencies prepared an EIS that considered and analyzed three action alternatives (which included one preferred alternative), and a fourth “No Action” alternative;
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has made a decision to implement Alternative B (proposed action) as described in the Record of Decision and the EIS.
Starting in early 2007, and each year after, MFWP will hold public informational meetings working through the Region 1 Citizens Advisory Committee to present the status of the project, to evaluate the implementation plan for each year and present the results of each year’s progress.
The decision documents and supporting information are provided below.
