Westslope cutthroat trout restoration in Elk Creek draft EA
Feb 6, 2025 10:32 AM
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks proposes to restore native westslope cutthroat trout (WCT) to Elk Creek in the Madison Valley in southwestern Montana. Historically, WCT, Arctic grayling and mountain whitefish were the only salmonid species in the Madison Valley. The primary threat to WCT in southwestern Montana is competition and predation by nonnative species, and the WCT population in Elk Creek has been reduced to occupying 0.8 miles of the headwaters due to compentition with nonnative brook trout.
Nonnative fish upstream of an existing fish barrier will be removed using a piscicide (rotenone) for two consecutive years. After two treatments have been completed and the stream has been verified to be fishless using environmental DNA, WCT will be allowed to repopulate 8 miles of habitat and will serve as a source of aboriginal Madison River WCT for future introductions.
WCT conservation efforts such as this are necessary to ensure the species’ long-term persistence. WCT (<10% nonnative trout introgression) currently occupy 11% of their historic range in SW Montana, but core populations (<1% nonnative trout introgression) exist in only 5.5% of their habitat. Additionally, 47% of Core populations remain at-risk. The conservation goal for WCT is to restore them to 20% of historically occupied habitat while continuing to manage the vast majority of habitat (80%) for non-native fish like Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout, and Brown Trout. Since 2010, 23 population restoration projects have been completed in Region 3 that have restored about 329 miles of Core WCT.
FWP invites you to comment on the draft environmental assessment for the proposed project. The EA can be found at the link below. Public comment will be accepted until March 8, 2025, at 5 p.m. Comments should be sent via mail or email at the addresses below:
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
Elk Creek Native Fish Restoration
Attn: Travis Lohrenz
#6 100 Prairie Way
Ennis, MT 59729
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