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Let the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service know that you support the proposed Critical Habitat Designation. Click Here to send a message through the Sierra Club website.

The Fly ShopAfter his great Kamchatka presentation, Ryan Peterson of The Fly Shop in Redding, CA wrote back thanking the chapter. He also wanted us to know that the 2010 Fly Shop catalog has just been released and is available. They also have their entire catalog online.

2009 Fly SwapSee the results of the Second Annual Flathead TU Christmas Fly Swap. Click Here for a slideshow of all the great patterns.

Montana TU Action Alert!
Support The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act
Scroll down for more information on the bill
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Releases 2009 Bull Trout Redd Counts for the Flathead River System
2009 redd counts , taken between Sept. 29 and Oct. 30 show continued declines following a couple slightly up years. Redds in the North Fork Flathead drainage declined by 20% and the Middle Fork drainage was down 14% over last year. Bull trout redds in the Swan drainage were down again this year as they were last year, possibly reflecting the lake trout invasion of Swan Lake. The count was not completed for the South Fork Flathead wilderness tributaries partly due to wildfire damage. Hungry Horse Reservoir tributaries showed a decline of 11% this year following a decline of over 50% last year.

New Critical Habitat Designation for bull trout released by USFWS. Comments requested by March 15,2009.

Read the MTFWP news release here.
Here's the Kalispell Daily Inter Lake article.
Glacier Park Bull Trout Count news release

Sheppard Creek Cutthroat Restoration Project
cutthroat troutIn September, FVTU members assisted Beth Gardner and other USFS employees in removing brook trout from Sheppard Creek in the upper Stillwater River drainage. The report is now in on the Sheppard Creek Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project so far. The final count was 1244 brook trout age 1+, plus maybe another 1000 of young-of-year removed.   The good news is that the cutthroat trout seem way up.  Beth estimates 1,028 individuals, which is an all-time high since USFS began monitoring. Read the full USFS 2009 Annual Report (pdf) for a progress update. Click Here to see the slideshow of the September electrofishing.

Tester Jobs Bill

Learn about Senator Tester's forest bill

Senator Tester's website - bill text and maps
What Tester's bill really does - New West
Q&A with Trout Unlimited's Tom Reed - New West
MontanaForests.org
Montana TU Press Release
Marc Racicot: Tester’s bill can break logjam
Rick Bass on Senator Tester's forest jobs bill
Dr. Tom Power: Two Views of the Tester FJRA
Governor Schweitzer backs Tester's FJRA

collinsworthWinner of the 2009 Wildlife Forever State Fish Art  Contest prize for Best In Show grades 4-6, is Carson Collinsworth of Whitefish. His sister, Kendyl took first place for Montana in the grade 7-9 category. The contest is sponsored locally by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Congratulations to Carson and Kendyl. Read the story in the Billings Gazette.

 View all the amazing art work here.
AFS  Western Lake Trout Woes. Great article in the Sept. 2009 issue of Fisheries, the monthly publication by the American Fisheries Society. The article details problems and attempts at control of non-native lake trout across the west, including the Flathead and Glacier Park.

Netting of invasive lake trout has been ongoing for the past four years in Lake Pend Oreille in northern Idaho. This year's report shows some encouraging signs. "...the evidence is beginning to suggest the effort is benefitting bull trout."

Lake Pend Oreille 2009 Fishery Recovery Update

Calls increasing for aggressive approach to take out non-native trout in Flathead Lake.  Missoulian 11/26/2009

CS&KT tribes propose netting Flathead lake trout. Daily Inter Lake 12/18/2009
Swan Lake, Lake Trout Removal Project 

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks  proposes to conduct a 3-year lake trout removal effort in Swan Lake, Montana, to determine the feasibility of suppressing the population.
The proposed action would involve contracting with professional fishery consultants to
conduct gill netting over a 3-week period beginning late August or early September 2009... Read the EA and Decision Notice from FWP - PDF

Update 09/13/2009 - "
Flawless Effort"  Read the report by Wade Fredenberg on the first round of Swan Lake netting.

   
 Daily Inter Lake Story Aug, 9, 2009

Information on the American Clean Energy & Security Act (ACES) H.R. 2454 - also referred to as the Waxman-Markey bill.Chris in D.C.

With a special report from FVTU Power Broker, Chris Schustrom on the Washington D.C. meeting in July between TU representatives and other sportsmen and the Montana Senate delegation about climate change legislation. Page includes information for contacting your legislators.


rave
In July, eight photographers from the International League of Conservation Photographers spent ten days documenting the Canadian Flathead in what they called a Rapid Assesment Visual Expedition (RAVE). Their aim was to "create a library of images for use by media and conservationists and help draw attention to the industrial threats facing the Flathead and to document the extrodinary natural values there".

View the spectacular photos produced by the RAVE here.

Now Is The Time To Save Native Fish

Opinion piece from FVTU in the Missoulian July 6, 2009

 

Mike Howe - Response July 26, 2009 - Hungry Horse News


Clean Water Restoration Act Advances In Senate - The Senate Environment and Public Works committee passed a version of the CWRA with the help of Senator Baucus. Action by the full Senate expected later this year. Senators Baucus and Tester need to hear from you.

 

Read the TU Press Release

Background on the CWRA from Clean Water Action

TU, NWF Thank you letter to Senator Baucus


2009-2010 Montana Legislature Contact Information
and List of Flathead Legislators

PDF File


Upcoming FVTU Events
Feb. 16 - Fishing the Blackfoot Valley - Dan Paschke
Mar. 12-14 - FVTU at the Great Rockies Sports Show
Mar. 16 - Bamboo Rods - Jerry Kustich
April 20 - Program pending
May 8 - FVTU Annual Banquet at Grouse Mountain Lodge
Read All The Latest Conservation News From FVTU
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Next FVTU Meeting
Join FVTU on Feb. 16 at 7 pm at the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks conference room, 490 N. Meridian in Kalispell for our regular monthly meeting.

This month FVTU presents our own Dan Paschke with a program on Fishing the Blackfoot River Valley. If you fish the Blackfoot and tribs, this is a program you can't afford to miss.

Don't forget to join FVTU at the Great Rockies Sports Show March 12-14 at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. See you there.
headlines
02/08/2010 - Wyoming wind energy rules drafted. The Wyoming State Lands and Investments Board has drafted new rules regarding wind energy development on state lands and is seeking public comments... Billings Gazette
02/08/2010 - CO water districts voice interest in proposed pipeline. Two Larimer County water districts have said they are interested in receiving water from the Regional Watershed Supply Project, entrepreneur Aaron Million's proposed 560-mile-long pipeline that would bring water from southwest Wyoming to the Front Range... Ft. Collins Coloradoan
02/07/2010 - Columbia River salmon runs plentiful now, but don't count on the trend continuing. Record numbers of coho have returned to the Columbia River in recent years, and this year forecasters predict the same for spring chinook. But it's not time to pop the champagne corks and declare victory in the nation's most expensive wildlife restoration venture... OregonLive
02/07/2010 - Carp talks may miss bigger lake challenge. The focus of Monday's White House Asian carp summit is to stop the giant, ecosystem-ravaging fish from slipping in the Great Lakes' back door - the Chicago canal system that links the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico... Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
02/07/2010 - Arctic climate changing fast. Climate change is transforming the Arctic environment faster than expected and accelerating the disappearance of sea ice, scientists said on Friday... Environmental News Network
02/07/2010 - Company sees 'very large' gold and silver resource near Rock Creek. An Atlanta-based gold mining company is eyeing what it calls "a very large open-ended gold and silver system" within two miles of Rock Creek in Granite County... Montana Standard
02/07/2010 - Water at core of climate change impacts-UN experts. The main impact of climate change will be on water supplies and the world needs to learn from past cooperation such as over the Indus or Mekong Rivers to help avert future conflicts, experts said on Sunday... Reuters
02/06/2010 - Big Hole River rift. A local conservation group is reconsidering whether to support ending "citizen days" along the Big Hole River that bar nonresident anglers from boat fishing on certain days... Montana Standard
02/06/2010 - Idaho expects large spring run of chinook salmon. Fisheries managers in Idaho are predicting a return of 180,000 spring chinook above Lower Granite Dam, 35 miles west of Lewiston. Of that, about 25,000 will be wild chinook... Lewiston News Tribune
02/06/2010 - California's global-warming law Under Attack. Republican politicians and conservative activists are launching a ballot campaign to suspend California's landmark global-warming law, in what they hope will serve as a showcase for a national backlash against climate regulations... Environmenta News Network
02/06/2010 - Tester Makes Some Changes to Wilderness Bill, Refuses Others. Sen. Jon Tester today announced that he hopes to make revisions to his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, legislation that has drawn widespread support, criticism and suggestions from Montanans—some of which Tester said he’d insert into the legislation... New West
02/06/2010 - Enthusiasts flock to Great Rockies Sport Show. The sounds of bugling elk, honking geese and howling coyotes echoed through Montana ExpoPark on Friday afternoon as the annual Great Rockies Sport Show kicked off in Great Falls... Great Falls Tribune
02/06/2010 - Barbless hook rule adopted for lower, mid-Columbia River. Washington salmon and steelhead anglers will be required to use barbless hooks in the lower and mid-Columbia River beginning in January 2011... The Columbian
02/05/2010 - 1 day left, 0 bidders for Otter Creek coal. Only one business day remains for coal companies to bid on developing the state’s 570 million tons of Otter Creek coal in southeastern Montana — and not one company has submitted a bid yet, state officials said Friday... Billings Gazette
02/05/2010 - Opportunity Spawned: New Proposal Protects Bull Trout and Water. Protecting and restoring bull trout habitat will help this threatened species recover. It will also improve water quality throughout the Northwest, spur investment in watershed restoration, and help support Montana’s $226 million fishing industry... New West
02/05/2010 - EPA Reveals High Hazard Potential at More Coal Ash Ponds. Twenty-two electric utility facilities with coal ash impoundments have written action plans to make them safer. But on Thursday, as the U.S. EPA made these plans public, the agency also released engineering assessments of 40 more coal ash impoundments showing they have the "high" or "significant" potential to cause loss of human life, environmental damage, or damage to infrastructure... Environmental News Service
02/05/2010 - Coal Lobby Group ACCCE Hires PR Firm Full of Bush Admin Operatives. The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) has hired two new public relations firms to hock its message in the wake of the disastrous job done by Bonner & Associates... Huffington Post
02/05/2010 - Federal judge puts Sacramento River salmon plan on hold. A federal judge has lifted limits on irrigation pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which salmon fishermen say will threaten young fish migrating to sea and the future of the fishing industry... Eureka Times-Standard
02/05/2010 - Feds Propose Refilling Pot of Salmon Recovery Money. In its new budget request to Congress this week, the Obama administration has included some money for Oregon and four other Western states to restore salmon habitat... Public News Service
02/05/2010 - Snowpack suffers after dry months. February mountain snowpack, which warms in the spring, filling rivers and streams that fuel the agriculture and energy sectors, is just 73 percent of the average, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service reported Thursday... Great Falls Tribune
02/04/2010 - Pikas won't be listed for protection, feds say. Pikas, the iconic squeakers of the high country, will not be listed for protection as a threatened or endangered species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided after a yearlong population-status review... Seattle Times
02/04/2010 - Montanans lobby delegation on climate change. Farmers, professionals and small businesses from around the state pressed Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus about supporting measures that not only promote green energy, but also curtail greenhouse gas pollution... Billings Gazette
02/04/2010 - Advisory Group Gives Sportsmen Voice on Conservation. Federal officials unveiled a new advisory council on wildlife conservation and hunting issues on Thursday... New West
02/04/2010 - Magic City Fly Fishers Expo coming to Billings. The Billings Magic City Fly Fishers Expo 2010 opens in the Holiday Inn Convention Center on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 9 am... Laurel Outlook
02/04/2010 - Obama creates clean-coal task force. Washington will develop a comprehensive strategy to speed development of carbon capture and storage technology for the coal industry, the U.S. president said... UPI.com
02/04/2010 - Water Movements Can Shape Fish Evolution. Researchers from the University of Minnesota's Institute of Technology have found that the hydrodynamic environment of fish can shape their physical form and swimming style... ScienceDaily
02/04/2010 - Burbot anglers count on ugly fish's wander and lust plight. Burbot. The eel-like fish species that put the U in ugly, sometimes called ling, sometimes named eelpout (and my favorite: lawyer) spawns in a writhing ball about two feet in diameter... Great Falls Tribune
02/04/2010 - DNRC to schedule hearing on water rights protections. Several Montana ranchers and water users who petitioned the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation over a water rights issue were notified Monday that the matter will get a closer look... Billings Gazette
02/04/2010 - President Touts His Alternative Fuels Plan. President Obama moved on Wednesday to bolster the nation’s production of corn-based ethanol and other alternative liquid fuels and ordered the rapid development of technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal... New York Times
02/04/2010 - Bark beetles rocked by sound. In a Northern Arizona University School of Forestry lab, researchers are listening to the sound of western forests under attack: the scratching, scraping, crunching of the Ips bark beetle and its cousins chewing the life out of ponderosa, pinyon and lodgepole pines... Arizona Daily Sun
02/04/2010 - Colorado river basin levels low. According to the latest snowpack report from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Colorado basins were at 86 percent of average as of Monday. The percentage is the lowest since 2003... Denver Post
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