Fish-purging plan will proceed

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission declined to vote Thursday on a motion to suspend the use of a fish toxin as part of a westslope cutthroat restoration project in the South Fork Flathead Basin.

After hearing lengthy public testimony at the Red Lion Hotel Kalispell, Commissioner Vic Workman of Whitefish proposed that the use of Rotenone be suspended in the project that targets 21 alpine lakes over 10 years.

Rotenone was used to purge all fish from Black and Blackfoot lakes in the Jewel Basin last fall, with the goal of eliminating the potential for native westslope cutthroats to interbreed with non-native rainbow trout or Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

Then the lakes would be restocked with pure westslopes. The South Fork is considered part of the world's remaining westslope stronghold.

Commission Chairman Steve Dougherty of Great Falls asked for a second to bring Workman's motion to a vote.

But none of the commissioners spoke up.

"Motion dies," Dougherty said, causing a stir among project opponents in the audience of nearly 100 people.

"The public is against it!" shouted one woman as the commission moved on to the next agenda item.

Dougherty suggested that concerns about the controversial project have been and will continue to be adequately addressed by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

"There are some grave concerns and the department understands that and the commission understands that and it will proceed on that basis," Dougherty said.

Before making his motion, Workman explained that he doubts the project will be effective because hybrid fish already have spread into the drainage's largest waters, Big Salmon Lake and Hungry Horse Reservoir.

"I am not willing to be part of a project … that doesn't have a chance to succeed," he said.

But Fish, Wildlife and Parks fisheries managers and biologists believe the project will succeed in dramatically suppressing hybrid fish populations where they originate.

Workman said he was disappointed that more rigorous sampling had not occurred in Hungry Horse Reservoir as he requested months ago. The state collected gill-net samples from across the reservoir in 1985, 2001 and last fall. The latest catch produced only 34 fish, including one rainbow-cutthroat hybrid.

Workman questioned the statistical viability of such a small sample from a 52-mile-long reservoir.

Matt Boyer, the state's lead biologist on the project, said the gill netting did produce a statistically viable sample because it spatially covered the reservoir, and the samples do not reflect a single population. Rather, the reservoir holds a collection of fish populations that come from many spawning tributaries and alpine lakes that were stocked with rainbow and Yellowstone cutthroat trout decades ago.

More important, Boyer said, are genetic samples from the alpine lakes that have confirmed they are the source of hybrid fish that have leaked into the South Fork drainage.

About 15 people spoke against the project, raising a variety of concerns.

"I think there are too many doubts about downstream effects," said one man who questioned whether Rotenone may be harming threatened bull trout populations in waters below the lakes that are treated.

Several opponents referred to a medical journal article that reported Rotenone has been shown to cause Parkinson's symptoms in rats.

Boyer said the concentrations of Rotenone used in the lake project are dramatically less than those used in the medical study. He calculated that a person would have to drink 40 gallons of lake water during a five-week treatment to equal the concentrations used on rats.

The Rotenone used last fall "detoxified" by January in 16-acre Blackfoot Lake and by April in the 49-acre Black Lake, Boyer said. The most recent evaluations of the two lakes have revealed no traces of fish in the lakes, but a return of amphibians, insects and plankton.

The two lakes will be restocked by helicopter with westslope cutthroat trout, the largest 12 inches long, starting next week.

Others urged that the state pursue "swamping" - stocking on top of existing fisheries to essentially dilute hybrid populations - rather than using toxins on the lakes.

So far, Boyer said, there are plans to swamp four of the lakes where it is believed that method will be successful.

Jim Satterfield, regional supervisor for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in Kalispell, stressed that the project will be adaptive with annual public meetings and a comprehensive five-year review. The project was proposed in 2001 and developed through an extensive environmental review by the state, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bonneville Power Administration, which is funding the work.

Like Workman, some opponents at the hearing questioned whether the project would be effective. A Columbia Falls man urged caution because "I have seen some mistakes made, some very serious ones, that have affected our fisheries."

Other speakers specifically referred to the introduction of mysis shrimp in Flathead Lake, a move that led to the collapse of the lake's kokanee salmon fishery.

About a dozen people spoke in favor of the project, mainly making the argument that it is necessary to be proactive in saving Montana's state fish before it is potentially protected by the Endangered Species Act.

"We are seen by everyone as putting forth a good-faith effort to save this species," said Tony Anderson, a member of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks regional citizens advisory committee. "If the cutthroat are listed, we are in trouble."

Thad Riggs, owner of a tackle shop in Olney, said it would be impossible to stop hybridization and non-native species in the Flathead Basin's lower-elevation waters, so it is appropriate to concentrate on an area where it is feasible.

"I have total confidence in Fish, Wildlife and Parks to do the project correctly with angler support and information," he said. "So let them do it."

Also speaking in favor of the project were representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes fisheries division, the U.S. Forest Service, BPA, Flathead Valley Trout Unlimited and the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority.

Bruce Measure, one of Montana's two representatives on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, noted that the project was funded through the council's fish and wildlife program with unanimous support from an independent science review panel. The program distributes $143 million annually in the Columbia Basin, he said, and Montana gets just under 3 percent of that annual funding.

The alpine lakes project is expected to cost about $100,000 annually. The Jewel Basin's Lower Big Hawk Lake is scheduled for Rotenone treatment this fall.

Bruce Farling, executive director of Montana Trout Unlimited, expressed confidence in the project.

"The probability of a good outcome on this project is a lot greater than a lot of the stuff you guys wrangle with," he told the commission.

And Farling partly credits the project design to scrutiny from Commissioner Workman.

"I actually think he improved the project with tough questions," Farling said after the meeting. "Vic improved the project."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com