BRTU E-News
Because there's more to fishin' than just fishin'!
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#252: Apr. 10, 2022
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Helpers Needed for Bitterroot Buggers This Tuesday! |
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The third tying session for the 2022 Bitterroot Buggers class will be from 6:30 - 8:00 PM this coming Tuesday evening - April 12 at the Hamilton School District's Keystone Enrichment Program facility on Madison between 5th and 6th Streets. Look for the blue door with the flower painted on it.
The sessions are going very well and we have been fortunate to have a good number of helpers. Steve Davis is ramrodding the breakout session for casting instruction.
The key to success in the classes is an adequate number of helpers to assist the kids with the tying. Please come on down and assist with our flagship youth program. It is very gratifying to see these young people catch on to flytying and learn about conservation. You need not be an experienced tier to make a big difference.
Supply chain issues have delayed our shipment of quality tying vises, so if you can come Tuesday, perhaps you can bring a vise down for the kids to use.
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Give a Dam: 2022 Painted Rocks Dam Clean Up Day |
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It will be a while before the water starts spilling over the top of Painted Rocks like in the photos since the reservoir is still filling for the 2022 season.
As discussed at the March BRTU meeting, the 25,000 acre feet of water released annually is a tonic for the fishery and an irrigation balm for the members of the Painted Rocks Water Users Association (PRWUA). Key to the arrangement is cooperation between the various state agencies and user groups.
If you are an angler, guide or recreational floater who benefits from the water, you can express your appreciation by helping at the annual dam clean up day on Wednesday, April 27.
The PRWUA, in concert with MT DNRC, Trapper Creek Job Corp Center, and MT FWP, will be conducting the annual Painted Rocks Dam Clean Up Day and BBQ on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The purpose of the work is to remove and burn the large amount of woody debris that washes up and is deposited annually on the dam spillway and face.
Volunteers are needed to assist with picking up and piling, or depositing into bucket loaders, limbs and sawn sections of logs so they can be transported to designated burn areas.
Following the cleanup work, PRWUA and MT FWP will once again provide a BBQ lunch at the Rombo Campground, with hamburgers, hot dogs and all the trimmings for all volunteers.
PRWUA spokesperson Roger Raynal has specifically asked TU members to volunteer, pointing out that "never was there a clearer case of “many hands make light work” so again, PRWUA really appreciates your efforts!"
Specific Information for the day:
When: April 27, 2022 (Wednesday)
Time: 9:00 am
Where: Meet on the dam road (parking available at the boat ramp access site just past the dam.
What to bring: Wear good boots with ankle support, gloves, and have warm and dry clothing in case of wind, rain or snow. Volunteers will be climbing up and down on the exposed rip-rap dam face. Weather and wind coming off of the reservoir can be challenging at times. Heavy equipment will be used, along with chainsaws and cables to cut and pull log sections up onto the road for transport.
Please contact: Roger Raynal (406) 369-1730 by April 15th to confirm participation so a “head count” can be made in order to purchase sufficient food and supplies for lunch.
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The Jefferson River from the Waterloo Bridge. This is the focal point of the management plan. Source: Chris Edgington. |
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Extreme low water on the Jeff' during the summer of 2021. Source: Chris Edgington. |
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The Shaw Diversion on the Boulder River, a tributary to the Jeff'. Source: Chris Edgington. |
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A road captured by the Middle Fork of the Judith River. The current road has 17 fords of the river, and one of Chris's projects is to reroute the road in order to rehab these fords. Sure looks like a gorgeous stream! Source: Chris Edgington. |
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Jefferson River Featured at April 21 BRTU Meeting. |
A reminder to register for the April 21 meeting on Zoom featuring Montana TU's Jefferson Watershed Project Manager Chris Edgington.
Chris will highlight MTU's efforts in the watershed over the last several years. Chris will give an update on the fisheries trends, completed and upcoming MTU projects, and his role in the drought management plan. He will also discuss a major road relocation and stream restoration on the Middle Fork of the Judith River.
These Jefferson River projects were started almost 20 years ago at the time of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial. MTU recognized that the river named for President Thomas Jefferson was having serious problems and felt it was time to devote effort to that stream. Chris's program will be an update on those projects.
A number of Montana rivers were named by the Corps of Discovery, including the Marias, Jefferson, Judith, Madison, Gallatin and Clark's Fork. The Judith River was named on May 20, 1805 by William Clark for his cousin and future bride Julia Hancock. The Marias River was named by Meriwether Lewis that same summer for his cousin Maria Wood. Of course, these streams -as well as all the other waterways in North America - had been named centuries before by the Native Americans.
The meeting will be on Zoom and this is the link to register. Once you register, you will receive the link and will receive an reminder a day or so before the meeting. Note the Zoom will be active at 6:30, but the meeting won't start until 7:00.
Please let me or Chapter President Dave Ward know if you have any questions or have an announcement you'd like us to make that evening.
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Low Flow Woes Won't Wane! |
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Bob Dylan had it right when he sang "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" on Subterranean Homesick Blues. The Montana Drought Report has 56 Montana counties in a Drought Designation, and the reports on SNOTEL are headed in the wrong direction for a huge swath of Montana drainages, including the Bitterroot. We have dropped to 86% of normal and this may presage a rerun of last summer. So our Painted Rocks' water will once more prove its value (see story above).
The SNOTEL reading for the prime stretches of the Missouri are at a jawdropping 65%. And the water deficit reverberates down the entire Missouri drainage to Ft Peck Reservoir and beyond.
As reported in a recent story, releases from Hebgen Lake to the Madison are already being reduced by Northwest Energy in anticipation of low flows there. The lake is over 10 feet below full pool and the snowpack ain't great there either. Plus, the impact on Madison fisheries from the dam failure last year has yet to be determined.
The entire western US is in a stunning megadrought with conditions unseen for at least 1200 years. Huge reservoirs on the Colorado River system like Lake Powell are basically becoming enormous sandboxes with boat docks and marinas a long hike from the remaining trickle of water. Even the optimistic predictions are somber suggesting that these conditions will become a permanent feature for the 21st century in the Colorado drainage. The same reports conclude that 42% of these drought impacts are the result of climate change.
One ineluctable conclusion is that our cold water trout fisheries are in the cross hairs of all these threats. Headwater tributaries and wilderness watersheds are going to serve as refugia if the native species are going to survive. The mission of BRTU will become even more important, so consider joining up and maybe getting more active. |
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BRTU Caps Available Soon!
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The BRTU caps all sold out last summer and they are no longer available.
However, despair not. A new batch is on hand and will be for sale at the first in person BRTU meeting. They will only be available through BRTU.
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This issue's Picture of the Week was submitted by my peripatetic friend and colleague Seth Cooley.
Seth took this photo last year while hiking on a lovely sunny afternoon. The picture was shot in the midst of a splendid field of camas. Perspicacious readers may recognize the location.
Camas or Camassia quamash is a plant native to much of the Northwest, related to asparagus! The roots were considered a delicacy by the indigenous Native Americans, including those residing in the Bitterroot. The Nez Perce fed them to the Corps Of Discovery at Wieppe Prairie in September 1805, after the group had traversed Lolo Pass and were headed downstream to the Pacific. Like most other native species, the camas have become scarce so collecting and eating them is discouraged.
Please send your photos and stories to me. Your picture might end up as the Picture of the Week! Any photos related to fishing and conservation are welcome. We are happy to use pictures of released fish in the water.
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This week's BRTU Puzzler was submitted by longtime BRTU supporter Whygin Argus.
The puzzle is to identify the toothsome piscivore and explain why they were in the news recently. The first correct entry will declared winner of the current BRTU Puzzler.
If you have a cool fishing or conservation related photo, consider submitting it to BRTU Puzzlemaster Marshall Bloom for the BRTU Puzzler. I will no longer publish grip and grin photos of native fish out of water and will highlight photos of actual fish in the water.
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Monte Dolack BRTU prints
now available at Joe's Studio.
A small number of Publisher's Proofs of the limited edition "Bitterroot River-Lost Horse Bend" by Monte Dolack are now available at Joe's Studio. BRTU commissioned Monte Dolack in 2007 to create this iconic print of the Bitterroot River.
The remaining Publisher's Proofs are $375 and all proceeds support BRTU efforts to protect trout and streams.
Joe's Studio, a regular sponsor of our banquets, is located in Hamilton at 220 Marcus Street (961-4586, joesstudio@aol.com)
The "U" in BRTU
Unlike many groups, BTRU has no paid staff. We are an entirely volunteer organization. We are always looking for new members to get involved in projects or to join our board and assist with maintaining our focus on native fish, clean healthy streams and education. If you would like to help out, please contact BRTU Chapter President Dave Ward. We could sure use your help!
In other words, how about putting a little "U" in BRTU?
If "U" are not already a member, "U" can join TU today by going to the the BRTU website. chapter number is #080. If you have a question about your membership, please call the Montana TU office at 406-543-0054.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BRTU board meetings are usually being held on ZOOM. They are open to all BRTU members. Date and time vary, so please contact Chapter President Dave Ward if you would like to log in and learn what is going on.
The BRTU Mission statement is "To conserve, protect, and restore the Bitterroot River and it's watershed," directly in line with the Montana TU mission statement.
For your information, here is a tabulation of our current hard-working BRTU officers and board members.
BOARD OFFICERS
Donna Haglund; Vice President; E-mail: haglunddonna@gmail.com
BOARD MEMBERS
Charlie Harris; E-mail: hmgharris@gmail.com
Ty Balser; (student board member)
GENERAL FACTOTUM AND NEWSLETTER PUBLISHER
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