It is hard to imagine a more clear legal statement than that of Montana District Court Judge Katherine Bidegaray on April 8 when she ruled against the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's decision about Sandfire Resouces proposed Black Butte Copper Mine threatening a key tributary of the Smith River.

As quoted in the Missoulian:

“This court finds that DEQ’s decision to permit the Black Butte Copper Mine was arbitrary, capricious and unlawful,” Bidegaray wrote in her April 8 decision. The Smith River State Park’s “statewide significance as an iconic recreational experience that is coveted by many Montanans and out-of-state visitors” prompted the Legislature to pass a special management act in 1989, Bidegaray noted. “As a result of these protections, as well as the high public demand to experience the Smith River’s exceptional fishing and recreational opportunities, (it) is Montana’s only river subject to a recreational permitting program.”

It is also hard to argue with the statement of Montana Trout Unlimited Executive Director David Brooks, who along with the Montana Environmental Information Center, American Rivers and Earthworks, mounted the long and expensive battle against the mine:

This is a moment to savor, because the legal decision is so robust. However, as we have seen with recent US Supreme Court decisions, a decision needs to be durable as well as robust. We can be absolutely certain the legal battle is not over. In fact, mine owner Sandfire Resources has already announced its intention to fight on.

Please consider making a donation to Montana TU in recognition of the successful work so far and the challenges yet to come.

There is a common refrain at almost every fishing regulation hearing or meeting I have attended over the last 50 years. It runs something like "In order to protect our trout, we have to prohibit bait fishing and allow only flyfishing and catch and release."

It is hard to dispute that an encounter with a night crawler on a treble hook is more deleterious to a fish than a size 18 BWO, but it is also clear that catch and release angling exerts mortality, too. This is particularly true when water is low and temperatures high, and when the trout are getting hammered day after day. Incremental to the list of dangers are photos - smartphone or Hasselblad!

Longtime BRTU member and angler Dr Hans Boer recently sent me an article that is worth considering. A recent study from Alberta in the prestigious journal Fisheries Research emphasizes the point that Pogo is making in the cartoon. The article is titled: "Can smartphones kill trout? Mortality of memorable-sized bull trout (Salvenius confluentis) after photo-releases." Because of copyright issues, I can't provide a link to the article, but the gist of the paper is that post-release 24 hour mortality of large bull trout after handling and photography was 33%, and that immediate mortality was also high (15%). The authors suggest that "These levels of mortality, combined with high angler effort, can lead to population-scale declines at C&R fisheries."

Of course, the remote fisheries in Alberta can't be directly compared with the native trout fisheries of western Montana, but this is certainly a cause for concern as fishing pressure mounts and environmental conditions became less fish friendly. The article also notes that adaptive management approaches like improved fish handling methods and reduced angler effort may prove helpful.

I am guessing it will be sometime before those studies get performed, published and become part of the fishing regs, but in the meantime, there are a few simple things that we as concerned anglers can do now:

Finally, consider becoming more involved in groups like BRTU that are trying to maintain and improve trout habitat and to protect native fish from the other threats, like mines, development and water pollution. The trout can use the help!