BRTU E-News
Because there's more to fishin' than just fishin'!
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#281: Mar. 5, 2023
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Anti-stream access bill SB497 sinks! |
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A sign you shouldn't see at river access sites in Montana! Courtesy: Whygin Argus. |
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Trespassing has always been illegal in Montana but thanks to our Stream Access Law, the public has considerable rights to recreate on our streams and on the riverbed between the high water marks. A nasty but stealthy challenge to stream access was attempted in the waning hours of the the first 1/2 of the 2023 Montana Legislature in the form of SB497 introduced by Sen FitzPatrick of Great Falls.
Trout Unlimited, including BRTU, Simms Fishing Products, and Wild Montana sent out Action Alerts encouraging concerned anglers and conservationists to ask their Montana Senators to vote against SB497. The response was dramatic and the bill went down 36-14 on March 1. The Missoulian had a summary of the discussion on the bill before the vote.
It appears that over 50 BRTU E-news subscribers responded by emailing the 2 State Senators from our valley. Senator Jason Ellsworth (SD-43), who is President of the Montana Senate for this session, voted against SB497, while our other senator did not. There is no way to know for certain, but the strong showing may have been influential. At any rate, thanks are due to Sen. Ellsworth.
In the BRTU Action Alert, I quoted the old Montana saying "Neither man nor beast is safe when the Legislature is in session." Our ability to respond to the shenanigans, both clueless or nefarious, depends on the efforts of Montana TU and others to keep us updated. This costs money, so please consider making a donation!
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Pebble Creek Mine featured at March 16 BRTU meeting. |
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Location of the proposed Pebble Creek Mine. Source: TU.org. |
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Fishing during the salmon run in the Pebble Creek drainage. Source: Peter Van Tuyn. |
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The March 16 BRTU meeting will feature a presentation by Peter Van Tuyn on the Pebble Mine and its fate, which recently became the most significant conservation victory of the present century. The title of Peter's talk is Bristol Bay Alaska: Where Wild Salmon are Gold.
The Pebble Mine has been a major priority of Trout Unlimited for over a decade. This dastardly mining project proposed a big goldmine in the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska - location of the the most prolific wild sockeye salmon fishery in the world, 20,000 fishing jobs, a fish-based economy worth north of $1.5 billion, and vital Alaska native culture and traditions. The project has now been taken off the books.
An astounding 80 million sockeye salmon returned to Bristol Bay Alaska’s pristine waters last year. This is 20 million more than the number of individuals of all Pacific salmon species that historically returned to Washington, Oregon, and California before rivers there were dammed.
Long-time Alaska environmental lawyer and now Bitterroot Valley resident Peter Van Tuyn will talk about what makes Bristol Bay such a successful salmon factory, the risk posed to those salmon by the proposal to develop the massive Pebble mine in the headwaters of Bristol Bay, and how Bristol Bay’s residents, with critical support from Trout Unlimited and others, finally secured Clean Water Act protections this year that effectively block that mine.
The meeting will be a chance to hear a world-changing story from one the people who had a role in much of the saga.
Peter's talk will begin at 7:00 PM on Thursday, February 16 at the Hamilton Elk's Club, 203 State Street.
The public is invited to attend and there is no charge for admission.
Plan on coming down early for personality adjustment because starting at 6:15, the Elks will be serving their excellent grilled brats and beer. The brats are steamed in beer before being grilled! Just $10 for a brat and a beer.
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2023 Bitterroot Buggers - helpers needed for Tuesday's tying class. |
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The 2023 Bugger class pays rapt attention as Joe Byrne delivers instructions. Source for all photos: Marshall Bloom. |
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Two Buggers get down to work on their flies. |
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BRTU member Bob Miller and another volunteer assist two Buggers as they begin to develop proper tying techniques. |
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Buggers gather round anxiously as Greg Chester faces the daunting task of selecting the best fly. |
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The second flytying class for the 2023 Bitterroot Buggers will be Tuesday, March 7 from 6:30 to 8:00 at the Hamilton Middle School Keystone Enrichment Center. The entrance is on Madison Street between 5th and 6th Streets. Look for the blue door with the yellow flower. Note that classes return to the standard Tuesday evening.
Remember, the success of this program is absolutely dependent on volunteer helpers. If you doubt that volunteering is worth a few hours, just check out the photos which were taken at the first tying session this year. It is not necessary to be a flytier in order to help with these classes. Please consider signing up to assist with the very worthwhile program. Contact Joe Byrne or Greg Chester.
The flyting and casting classes start at 6:30. The schedule for this week and subsequent classes follows:
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Tuesday, March 7 (Gray Hackle Peacock),
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Tuesday, March 14 (Gold-ribbed Hare's Ear),
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Tuesday, March 21st (X-Caddis),
- SPRING BREAK,
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Tuesday, April 4th (Parachute Adams),
- Tuesday, April 11 (Casting instructions).
- The Buggers Fishing Trip and picnic have yet to be scheduled.
All tying classes begin with a video demonstration of the particular fly being tackled. Then the students and volunteers head to the vices to put the lesson into practice. At the end of each class, flies are entered into a competition judged by an expert tier.
Each Bugger receives a manual with all of the fly patterns, and links to the on-line videos. Quality tools and materials may be purchased for a very nominal cost, or borrowed during the class. Rod and reel outfits are also available for purchase below cost. For information on purchasing, please contact Joe Byrne or Greg Chester.
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This issue's Picture of the Week was submitted by your BRTU E-News Publisher.
This is another photo from last week's Bitterroot Buggers where the class members tied their first fly - a wooly bugger, whence the group's name. The look of excited anticipation is evident as these girls get ready to set up for tying. This is the future of angling and conservation. We can't let them down!
There was a great ratio of students to helpers last week, and success of the program is highly dependent on a lot of helpers.
Please send me any fishing or conservation related photos to be considered for the "Picture of the Week." Make sure that the files are less than 5 mB in size. Note that in most cases I plan to not to use "grip and grin" photos, but rather pictures of fish in the water or net.
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This week's BRTU Puzzler was submitted by Phil Frank, who lives part of the year in the Florida Keys.
There were a large number of entries, but the first one came from BRTU supporter John Gray.
John wrote:
I believe that the photo puzzler in the BRTU newsletter is a bonnethead shark, (Sphyrna tiburo). It is also sometimes referred to as a shovelhead and is very common in the Florida Keys, which I would imagine is where your photo of the “world’s smallest tarpon” photo also came from. The bonnethead is a close relative of the hammerhead shark, which is also a common occurrence in the Keys.
This species faces two primary challenges at present; (1) Poor water quality and high salinity rates in Florida Bay and the Keys due to inadequate water releases from the Everglades, (2) Overfishing pressure, particularly in the Keys and on the East Coast, primarily due to the popularity of both shark meat and fins .
A second correct answer was subsequently received from Phil Frank's brother who wrote:
A ; Bonnet head shark
Member of the hammerhead genus Sphyrna
Scientific name: Sphyrna tiburo
From wiki ;
The bonnethead was formerly classified as a least-concern species by the IUCN. It is heavily targeted by commercial and recreational fisheries and constitutes up to 50% of all small shark landings in the Eastern US, but is still reasonably abundant there as well as in the Atlantic Coasts of the Bahamas and Mexico. However, significant declines have been reported in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Central America and massive declines along with widespread disappearance on the Atlantic Coast of South America as well as most of the shark's Pacific range, leading it to be uplifted to 'Endangered" in 2020.[1]
The BRTU Puzzler now has a new sponsor - Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton. Chapter One is offering a $10 gift card to each winner but it must be picked up in person. The book store is a long time BRTU supporter and has an unbelievable inventory of books and magazines. If Chapter One doesn't have the tome you want, they can get it in a jiffy. Shouldn't we be patronizing local small independents rather than big online giants?
John can collect his gift card by stopping in at the book store.
If you have a cool fishing, outdoor activity, or conservation related photo, consider submitting it to BRTU Puzzlemaster Marshall Bloom for the BRTU Puzzler. BRTU E-News will no longer publish grip and grin photos of native fish out of water but will highlight photos of actual fish in the water.
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Monte Dolack BRTU prints
now available at Joe's Studio.
A very few Publisher's Proofs of the limited edition "Bitterroot River-Lost Horse Bend" by Monte Dolack are still 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 BRTU sponsor, 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.
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
Vacant, Treasurer;
BOARD MEMBERS
Charlie Harris; E-mail: hmgharris@gmail.com
Vacant; (student board member)
GENERAL FACTOTUM AND NEWSLETTER PUBLISHER
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