Restoring cutthroats in 21 lakes a hard sell around ‘The Bob’

A final environmental review has been released for a project that would use toxins to remove fish from 21 lakes in and around Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex to protect westslope cutthroat trout from hybridization, but final decisions approving the project have yet to come.

The controversial project, funded by the Bonneville Power Administration and first proposed four years ago, is aimed at stopping the proliferation of hybrid cutthroats throughout the South Fork Flathead River drainage, the largest westslope cutthroat stronghold in Montana.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists and other backers say that over decades, hybridization between westslopes, rainbow and Yellowstone cutthroats will progress and “dribble” downstream to a point where the drainage’s westslope genetics will be corrupted.

Varying degrees of hybridization have been documented in 21 lakes that are proposed for “treatment” with two types of toxins: Rotenone and Antimycin. The best methods for delivering the toxins into a wilderness area where motorized use is restricted is one of the issues that will be decided when three separate Records of Decision are issued this fall by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bonneville Power Administration.

The unusual three-agency decision-making will focus on several alternative approaches to the project, ranging from a “no-action” plan on up to the “proposed action” of using a combination of horsepacking, aircraft and motorboats for carrying out the project.

From the start, the proposed plan has drawn fire, but it has attracted support from some key organizations, such as Montana Trout Unlimited and the American Fisheries Society.

The state received about 40 letters, some of them with extensive comments, after the draft proposal was issued in June, 2004, most of them critical of the proposal. Some objected to the use of aircraft and boats and toxins in a wilderness area. Some raised concerns about the impacts of toxins on amphibians and other “non-target” species. And many were skeptical of the need for the project, or doubtful that it would be effective.

Some object to the idea of removing fish from a productive alpine lake, even though the proposal calls for restocking those lakes to re-establish a pure cutthroat fishery as fast as possible. Still, some wilderness advocates have objected to the idea of restocking lakes where cutthroats did not exist until they were planted by people.

Project leaders say communicating the purpose and importance of the project has been difficult.

Jim Vashro, the state’s regional fisheries manager, said many people don’t perceive that cross-breeding presents a long-term problem for cutthroat.

“If it’s not broken, then why fix it,” is how some perceive it, Vashro said. “That’s the hard part of explaining this project – they’re big and fat fish, so what’s the problem?”

Part of the problem, Vashro noted, is that hybridization has become a major issue in a petition to list cutthroats for protection under the Endangered Species Act. A judge ruled that the federal government’s assessment of cutthroat populations did not adequately account for the threat that hybridization presents to cutthroat populations.

It may take decades, but the westlope cutthroat will eventually be replaced by a mutt fish in the South Fork, says Brian Marotz, the state’s fisheries projects manager.

“It’s the state fish and it’s been reduced to 9 percent of its historic range,” Marotz said. “The fate of the South Fork has a huge bearing on the status of cutthroats in Montana.”

Grant Grisak, the state’s coordinator for the project, maintains that concerns have been addressed in the final Environmental Impact Statement for the “South Fork Watershed Westslope Cutthroat Trout Conservation Program.”

For example, predictions that the toxins will kill frogs and salamanders were taken seriously. Through field and laboratory testing, Grisak said it has been shown “conclusively” that the toxin concentrations that are proposed will not impact amphibians. And for added measure, the treatments would be carried out in the fall, when amphibians are no longer active in the alpine lakes.

As to the effectiveness of the proposed approach, Grisak said the state is working off the proven success of similar efforts in several other alpine lakes – Tom Tom, Whale, Devine and the Jewell lakes.

Jim Satterfield, regional supervisor for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, stressed that if the three agencies sign off on the proposal, there will be an ongoing interaction between the department and the public.

“This one requires more ongoing public involvement because it lasts so long,” Satterfield said. “There will definitely be an extensive, ongoing public involvement process.”

As proposed, the project would involve treating one or two lakes each fall for a minimum of 10 years. The protracted schedule is intended to ensure that most of the lakes maintain recreational fisheries in any given year, and so that biologists can learn from each year’s efforts and fine tune their methods.

“When you are doing two lakes in one year, you’ve got a chance to modify your techniques,” Satterfield said. “You’ve got a chance to modify your approach over a 10-year period.”

Marotz estimates that on average over 10 years, the project cost will range from $300,000 to $500,000 a year, with BPA providing all of the funding through an ongoing program to mitigate impacts from construction of Hungry Horse Dam more than 50 years ago.