BRTU E-News
Because there's more to fishin' than just fishin'!
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December 6, 2020
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Bridge proposal to be discussed Tuesday at Conservation District meeting.
As described in a recent BRTU E-News, the new owner of the Fetch Inn property due west of Skalkaho Bend Park is proposing to construct a bridge across the current "west" channel of the Bitterroot River. He wants to access for agriculture his property on the large island that forms most of the river bottom.
The figure above was taken from a recent Bitterroot Water Forum email, prepared by GEUM for a project at Skalkaho Bend Park. It can be observed that the current channels as of 2017 are shown in pink and it is across the small "west" channel that the bridge is proposed to be built. However, in 1954 and as recently as the early 1970's, there was a channel farther to the west and that channel carried the bulk of the river flow. Clearly, this is a tremendously dynamic reach of the river and there are serious concerns about the longevity of any bridge as well as potential entrainment of flow by bridge abutments.
The landowner's agents have submitted a Joint Proposal to the Bitterroot Conservation District, and the Supervisors have been diligently scrutinizing the application. BRTU, as well as several other local groups, have expressed serious reservations over the application, and the engineering analysis commissioned by MFWP Biologist Jason Lindstrom echoes those concerns. BRTU has put forth the idea that any bridge ought to be fully demountable and not utilize permanent abutments.
The application is scheduled for additional discussion at the next Bitterroot Conservation District meeting on Tuesday, December 8. Interested individuals can participate in the teleconference. The agenda for the meeting and call in instructions may be found here.
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More than one way to kill a fish.
There are a lot of ways to kill a coho salmon or a trout. They can die a natural death after spawning. They can be killed by grizzlies as they migrate to their natal stream, by commercial operations in the Pacific or by indigenous anglers exercising their treaty subsistence rights.
However, the cause for their demise is not always so obvious. For a number of years, biologists have observed massive die offs in rivers and streams after heavy rain events. Recently, a potential explanation for this fatal conundrum has been put forth. As usual, the hand of humans seems implicated. The culprit seems to be a chemical antioxidant that is used in the production of tires, called 6PPD. As tire treads wear down, tiny bits of 6PPD containing plastic are deposited on the roadways and reaction with ozone yields a compound that is toxic to the coho, i.e., quinone-6PPD. When heavy rain events wash this toxic brew into nearby streams, the evidence to date suggests that fish kills result. The die offs have been seen in several streams in the metropolitan Seattle area You can read a story about this here or a more detailed description of the research here.
Over the decades, trout in Montana have also had their share of toxic encounters of the worst kind. Some like the slickens in the upper Clark Fork from hardrock mining in Anaconda or the toxic sediments from the failure of the Mike Horse Mine's tailing ponds on the upper Blackfoot have led to acute and dramatic fish kills in years gone by. More subtle and less acutely lethal are chemicals that infiltrate rivers from places like the abandoned settling ponds at the former Smurfit-Stone plant just down stream from Missoula.
Don Patterson sent along an article from the Missoula Current that reports that trout as far down as St Regis are loaded with toxins and are unsafe to eat. MFWP is analyzing the situation and will make some management changes over the winter. So people won't be eating these fish, but what about the birds and animals that rely on the fish in this river system? What will happen to them?
So, if stories like these make your blood boil, and if trout and salmon mean more to you than the number you can catch, photograph and brag about, you ought to consider becoming more active in BRTU or the TU chapter in your area. The fish can't speak for or help themselves, so it's up to us.
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This week's picture was submitted by former BRTU Board member Brett Shelagowski, who is now a science teacher in Lewistown, MT.
Brett was one of several who incorrectly guessed that the BRTU Puzzler (See below) was a Hexagenia limbata, commonly known as the “Hex” or “Michigan mayfly”.
Brett noted that "We have them here in Montana, but they are more prevalent in the midwest with silty bottoms of rivers and lakes as they are burrowers. What makes this species so famous is that it is the largest mayfly species in the world.
"Their evening spinner fall is what makes Michigan a destination in the summer months to fly anglers around the world. Attached is my last “Hex brown” caught at 12:38am in complete darkness 2 summers ago back on the Au Sable River and the birthplace of TU in Michigan."
In addition to being a great science teacher and angler, Brett runs Big Spring Creek Angler Guide Service on the famous and restored spring creek that runs through Lewistown. Several BRTU members have gone and fished there with Brett and the reports are very good.
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Wow! I had 4 entries within 30 minutes of sending the newsletter, but didn't receive a correct one until the next morning. There were actually 3 correct answers, but the first correct entry was from bronze artist and BRTU supporter Mari Bolen.
The mayfly shown is Ephemera danica, or the Danish mayfly, and it was selected last month in Germany to be the 2021 Insect of the Year by an international group of entomologists.
A quote from the story stated :
"What makes the mayfly unique is its life cycle: from the egg laid in the water to the insect capable of flight and mating, which dies after a few days," said Thomas Schmitt, chairman of the commission of scientists and representatives from research institutions and conservation organizations from Germany, Austria and Switzerland that made the choice.
""Shortly before the transition from aquatic to terrestrial life, a layer of air forms between the old and new skin of the adult larvae," said Schmitt, who is also director of the Senckenberg German Entomological Institute in Muencheberg, east of Berlin. "By reducing its specific weight, the larva rises to the water surface. Once there, the larval skin bursts and within a few seconds a flyable mayfly hatches."
There will be a new BRTU Puzzler in the next issue of BRTU E-News. Submit your entries to BRTU Puzzlemaster Marshall Bloom. If you are the first person to correctly identify the location, province and country, you will be the next BRTU Puzzler winner.
Chuck Stranahan has generously offered a prize to all winners of the BRTU Puzzler. The winner will be able to can claim a prize of hand-tied trout flies by contacting Chuck.
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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 Jeremy Anderson. 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 Clayton at 406-543-0054.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BRTU board meetings are now being held virtually on ZOOM. They are open to all BRTU members. Date and time vary, so please contact Jeremy. 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
BOARD MEMBERS
Gavin Marston (student board member)
GENERAL FACTOTUM AND NEWSLETTER PUBLISHER
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