BRTU E-News
Because there's more to fishin' than just fishin'!
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#283: Mar. 26, 2023
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April 20 BRTU meeting: fishery update and season prospects. |
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Montana SNOTEL map as of March 26, 2023. Source: USDA NRCS. |
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Streamflows at Darby gauge for last year. Source: USGS. |
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The April 20 BRTU meeting will feature a presentation by MFWP Fisheries Biologist Jason Lindstrom. Jason will provide a status report on the fishery, habitat conditions, and present results from last year's studies. He will also review the updated Hoot Owl program, and discuss relevant results from the 2023 Legislature as they affect fisheries.
Given the current rather spooky snowpack and very low streamflows - low 300's cfs at Bell Crossing and less than 200 CFS at Darby, this will be an important presentation
Jason's talk will begin at 7:00 PM on Thursday, April 20 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 and then served with fried onions and sauerkraut. Just $10 for a brat and a beer. The Elks have been selling close to 30 each month and I have observed several BRTU stalwarts eating 2 brats and getting one for the road after the meeting!
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A map delineating the West Fork Road (#473) above Painted Rocks Lake and Horse Creek Pass on the Idaho border. Sheep Creek is a small drainage off this extreme upper end of the West Fork, approximately at the sign SE SW Section 3 Mine. Painted Rocks Lake would be a bit north of Alta and Hughes Creek. Source: Mapcarta.
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The notorious Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California. Approximately 2000 X2600 meters. Source:GoogleEarth. |
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Since the announcement by the Utah based US Critical Materials, Corporation earlier this month claiming that there was a "mother lode" of rare earth metals in the Sheep Creek drainage of the upper upper West Fork above Painted Rocks Lake, there has been a flurry of media reports. The Bitterroot Star, Missoulian, and other local outlets. The story was also picked by Field and Stream which expressed the worry of many that a mine in the headwaters of the Bitterroot might impact the world class native trout fishery.
All of these stories are worth reading, and some like the Field and Stream and Bitterroot Star articles highlight the environmental costs associated with this type of mine, including radioactive waste. In particular, the article in the Star illuminates the checkered history of the notorious Mountain Pass Mine, which declared bankruptcy after leaking pipes caused extensive pollution, although there are some efforts being made to rejuvenate the project.
According to the company's website, their claims in the Sheep Creek area are about 7 square miles. However, there is reason to suspect that the rock formations which harbor the rare earth may be fairly widespread in Montana and Idaho. In an effort to understand and map the deposits, the US Geologic Survey in conjunction with programs at Montana Tech will be conducting specialized aerial surveys over more than 1,000 square miles from Painted Rocks towards the Big Hole. Additional surveys will be done on the Idaho side. The surveys are described in detail in this Missoulian article.
The Sheep Creek mining claims are on the West Fork District of the Bitterroot National Forest. On March 15, the Forest issued a news release, stating among other things that
“The Bitterroot National Forest has not received a draft Plan of Operations for any exploration drilling or a proposal to develop a mine in the Sheep Creek Area. If the Forest Service receives a plan, we will review the plan, and if warranted, will take the proposal through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. The NEPA process would include the opportunity for public notification and comment and ensure compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations before moving forward with the project.”
Until an actual Plan of Operations is submitted, the course of action remains speculative. However, BRTU and Montana TU, along with our partners like Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, are monitoring this latest snake oil and we will provide updates and Action Alerts as things develop. Cross your fingers this snake bites its handlers!
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Bitterroot Buggers Spring Break this week! Classes resume Tuesday, April 4. |
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Steve Davis and Bill Mitchell use foam tubes to teach casting strokes. Source for all photos: Greg Chester. |
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Bill Mitchell uses paint brushes to polish up technique. |
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Steve and Bill explain the features of a flyrod to several Buggers. |
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This Bugger has nailed a nice trout with one of the velcro flies. |
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Steve Davis refines casting loops for this Bugger. |
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There will be NO BITTERROOT BUGGERS class this coming Tuesday, March 28 due to spring break. Classes will resume Tuesday, April 4.
Because there is no class preview for this week, I'd like to focus on a couple of other Buggers issues. After several years of COVID disruptions, this year the Buggers are back to large classes. The energy is evident in both the kids and their parents.
Of special note and a key element of Buggers is the casting. Each week small groups of students are pulled out for a casting session. The Buggers have an excellent instructional staff led by Steve Davis, a certified FFF casting instructor and drone video wizard. Joining him is his wife Dianne (an excellent mandolin player), John Bundy and Jim Mitchell. Jim is a long-time Bitterroot outfitter and owns Bitterroot Fly Company, the ORVIS-endorsed shop in Darby.
The casting staff have created an interesting array of teaching method and tools that the students enjoy and quickly gain skills. Steve even created a fly line tipped with a Velcro patch that enables the kids to “catch” Velcro trout. It’s the closest thing to actual fly casting and fishing without the benefit of water. Each student receives a photo of their catch, a true “grip and grin” moment!
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BRTU banquet?
The last in person BRTU banquet was in fall 2019 and it was a humdinger! The COVID hammer dropped and in person events were severely curtailed. Now that life is approaching a semblance of normal, the BRTU Officers and Board members are increasingly being asked "When are we going to have a TU banquet?"
We would all love to have a banquet and it certainly seems like time, and in fact have been holding on to some very special items just for that purpose. It would be a lot of fun seeing old and new friends, swapping stories, raising some ducats for our projects, and celebrating BRTU's accomplishments.
But the fact - plain and simple- is that we have lost a number of our key banquet organizers. A successful banquet requires about a dozen committed volunteers.
So, if you would like to help us put on a banquet, please let Dave, Donna or me know. If we hear from enough folks, we can get rolling!
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This issue's Picture of the Week was taken last week by an anonymous friend about a mile downstream from Bell Crossing after a fishless day of streamer fishing. The photo is of 2 trees completely blocking the channel. Another outfitter friend tells me it has been there since last year.
This situation epitomizes one of the major conundrums of recent Bitterroot River management, adjudicating the competing concerns of habitat versus hazard. This one seems pretty obvious, but as far as I can determine noone has submitted an application for a 310 permit to remove the hazard.
In order to clarify roles and responsibilities of stream amanagement, BRTU is partnering with the Bitterroot Conservation District, MFWP, DNRC and the Bitterroot River Commissioner to host a free panel discussion on Thursday, May 25. Panelists will include 1.) Bitterroot Conservation District Supervisor Kent Myers will discuss the laws regulating activities in the streambed and floodplain as well as the Woody Debris Task Force, 2.) River Commissioner JR Iman and DNRC Engineer Larry Schock who will preview Painted Rocks water status and probable water release schedules, 3.) Ben Dickinson, our new MFWP Region 2 Recreation Manager, who will talk about boating safety and recreation issues, 4.) BRTU President Dave Ward who will present some possible novel solutions for hazard notification.
More details will follow, but the panel will be at 7:00 PM on May 25 at the Hamilton Elks Club and BRTU will be providing free brats to encourage attendance. Please note the date on your calendars
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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I am surprised that noone has taken a crack at this relatively straightforward BRTU Puzzler! A couple of hints are that the fish is not a tarpon and once of its parents has a prominent stripe.
This week's BRTU Puzzler was submitted by Kevin Frank, a newsletter subscriber who hails from Indiana.
The Puzzle is to identify the fish. Kevin sent along a hint, too. "The fish is typically sterile & sometimes used by fisheries managers to control runaway shad populations in man made impoundments."
The winning entry will identify the provenance of this fish and how it is used in management.
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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