Reservoir Creek Decision Notice

The Decision Notice posted below has been prepared to construct a wooden barrier in Reservoir Creek on private land that will protect 5.3 miles of habitat for unaltered westslope cutthroat trout (WCT). Reservoir Creek is one of seven remaining unaltered populations of WCT in the Beaverhead sub-basin, and one of three remaining unaltered populations which is still unprotected. Once protected, fish in Reservoir Creek can be used to repopulate future projects which will bring WCT closer to the overall goal of 20% of their historic distribution and ensure the long-term self-sustaining persistence of the subspecies in its historical range. This project is unique compared to many other barrier construction projects in that a nonhybridized population currently resides as the only fish species upstream of a seasonal intermittency barrier. If the barrier is constructed before invasion of nonnative trout, no additional and costly restoration activities (e.g., piscicide treatments to remove nonnative trout) would be needed. Many other unaltered populations in the Missouri River headwaters believed to be protected by seasonal intermittency have recently been invaded by nonnative trout and have become hybridized or lost to competition with brook trout. 

 

Related Documents

• Decision Notice (PDF)