The Missourian.com recently posted an article – Quarter Century of Restoration Paying Off in Blackfoot – detailing some of the hard-fought conservation and restoration gains made on the upper Blackfoot.
From the article –
OVANDO – The little creek looks barely big enough to float a fish, let alone a spawning zone crucial to the entire Blackfoot River drainage.
It also looks remarkably natural for a waterway whose every meander and riffle was artificially installed two years ago. But don’t look for it on any fishing guide’s list of great places to wet a fly. This no-name stream on a phantom ranch represents a quiet chapter in the 25-year effort to turn the Blackfoot from decay to destination.
“We’re offsetting 100 years of severe damage,” said Ron Pierce, who’s overseen Blackfoot restoration for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks for the last 28 of those years. “This is what it’s all about. I can’t overstress how important these little streams are to the health of the river.”
The Blackfoot River runs between the glaciated peaks of the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the more rolling knobs of the Garnet Range. The high streams to the north spawn bull trout, while the lower waters of the southern hills produce most of the Blackfoot’s westslope cutthroat trout. Both fish are native to the area and have earned federal protection as they struggle with habitat loss, non-native competition and climate change.
Two years ago, Pierce teamed up with Big Blackfoot Trout Unlimited restoration coordinator Ryen Neudecker to rebuild the little creek. Neudecker organized the funding, permits, contractors and design work, while Pierce provided the science and agency cooperation…
Read the rest here. .
