Show Intermoyntairi faster I 21 April 2004 barley alfalfa and pita to farms Working with farmers particularly those who operate with the help of water from the river's feeder streams has been productive so far Woodard says He these started his work on theriver just two years ago South Fork days" and already he says one tributary stream Why is thecutthroat so important? The Pritchard ('reek - has hern rehabilitated with reasons are many: the help of a private landowner First the South Fork’s reputation as one of In addition to improving the stream's the best dry fly fisheries in West was built on For these some reason banks - an old dam on the stream washed out- in native trout the backs of the 1980s and sent silt downstream each they're always looking up And true to their reputatiiin cutts come willingly to spring after that causing a lot of erosion TU anil its partners (volunteers the the flv The increasing rainbow Service etc) fenced cattle off the population has actually decreased the' fish the South in stream and installed a solar watering numbers of caught Fork a troubling development for guides system for the cows' Additionally a foot trail that follows the stream was altered a and outfitters along the river who depend bit and a footbridge 'was installed so ‘on that stellar dry fly fishery reputation hikers didn't have to walk through the to attract clients Economically the South water and stir up sediment Fork's cutthroats are priceless The group has now moved on to Second Yellowstone cutthroats are Garden ('reek to perform similar tasksin t r Hible el sc whe re Yellowstone Iake but one huge project remains - the in nearby Yellowstone National Park rehabilitation of the middle reaches of the heart of the Yellowstone cutthroat Rainey Greek an important spawning fishery is now infested with lake trout The lakers are dining on the tributary for South Fork cutthroats fish number “Rainey Greek is like the Super Bowl native reducing their of rehabilitation projects" Woodard says drastically Add whirling disease into that' “If we could get that project pulled off it e Yellowstone and equation could become as big of a spawning stream anglers are singing the blues as Burns Greek” Burn's Greek is likely Third because the threat to these the most important spawning stream is fish increasing there's a movement afiMit to list them under the Endangered along the South Fork Palisades ('reek and Pine ('reek are the other two major Species Act Were that to happenA lone drift boat navigates a side channel of the Sou Fork of the Snake Riyer streams used by the river spawning cutts according to Matt Woodard ofTrout Hear Irwin Idaho Unlimited a trout and salmon advocacy Presently because of water diversions Rainey (’reek’s middle reach - all of which group that's working to preserve' is on private ground - runs dry Up' above iin also negotiating with the federal Bureau of cutthroats bn the South Fork the economic Forest Service property the stream is in gixxl Reclamation - the operator of the Palisade blowback would be tremendous ' in flows" ' “Nobitdy wants to see these fish listed” he Dam - to release periodic “flushing shape and spawning cutthroats that make their ' order to reconnect the river with its traditional way to the river's headwaters before the says The threat of the listing and the economic flood irrigation diversions are turned on can and ikt and environmental ramifications that would plain the rivers lower reaches arc spawn'-AnWixxlard who heads up TJJ's efforts on come with it - is Ijk'cly what’s encouraging all the South Fork'grcw up on a dry farm along replenished by a system of sloughs that keep parties from the Bureau of Reclamation to the ' ' And as water in it all year long the South Fork above Conant Valley farming and ranching community to Woodard hopes with- some changes in dire as things might appear he believes the environmentalists to come togetherit's on bottomed and out river’s irrigation practices byabout a dozen key'1 conditjon has Throughout much of its range ' landowners water will run along Rainey: In j Yellowstone cutts have simply winkedout theway back to its former greatness Greek’s1 course all year : And hie the nearby Henry’s Fork for instance rainbow says with the cooperation TU has lng And that he says Fork make the will will South an even better river V" received he's optimistic that progress trout flominate the waterscape - prior to the “Niiw compared to when 1 grew up here continue for years to come inipKlucuonof rainbows on the Henry’s Fork ' the river's still in pretty gmxl shape" Woodard “A healthy river ecosystem needs a more cutthroat was the only native '' ' trout In eastern Idaho’s Blackfoiit Rivcr Says “But it’s going to take a while to get it natural hydrrigraph" he said explaining the'1 back to its former self If we just tweak a few ' rainbows are need fix the annual or at least j joining cutthroats in their spring it do v it's to I think things it’ll bein g(xxl shaped" ' v4' possible flushing flows "And spawning migration from Blackfoot Reservoir1 And that's what really matters If the 'river amlstill fulfill irrigators' nteils” into the river's headwaters The Portheuf River l still for is a needed is stream that can Capture the' trinit Fork's water The Situlh in vtutheast Idaho too has issues with invasive : a flv fisher whit flights itfor the of ' rainlWm-s-' imagination more than just fish it's course friii) Oinant spawning with oativccutts first rime imagine what “its former self was And in countless mountain streams an'd Valley all the Way toils confluence with the with likc:B wheat brookv introlucc(l trout like brook trout and ' irrigated Henry's Fork is lined rainbows have pushed cutthroats out altogether ' The ongoing efforts in the South Fork become more important with each pissing day which is why Trout Unlimited is taking Fish ahd Games efforts to the next level That organization - and funding earmaked specifically toward its efforts on the river is working with local landowners to rehabilitate traditional Yellowstone cutthroat spawning tributaries along the South Forks course It’s offers “But there's a place for too For years ethical anglers have practiced on the South Fork hilt I don't think it's ethical to release a rainbow on the catch-and-k- catch-and-relea- ijl se ’ -- - -- US-Fores- t : : - non-nati- ve long-tim- ' II ‘‘ ' - - ' ' : ' ' :': ' s' ' : k- 'i ' |