Park Service admits ‘substantial concerns’ in ending Gunsight Lake bull trout project

Federal officials have agreed to halt what local wildlife advocates called a “half-baked plan” to stock bull trout in Gunsight Lake in Glacier National Park. 

The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service filed documents on April 9 saying that both government organizations would voluntarily rescind approval for the project after two conservation nonprofits sued the agencies in September 2024. Friends of the Wild Swan and the Council on Fish and Wildlife alleged federal officials violated the National Environmental Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act by failing to conduct a thorough review of the project’s potential impacts. 

“In approving the Westslope Cutthroat and Bull Trout Preservation in Gunsight Lake Project (the Gunsight Project), the National Park Service had money to spend, and it could not let anything get in the way,” read the opening lines of the lawsuit filed by the wildlife groups in U.S. District Court. “It ignored the science, its policies, and the law.” 

According to the environmental assessment the park service released in May 2023, the project would create a “secure habitat” for two native trout species currently threatened by hybridization with nonnative species and warming water temperatures. 

“Action is needed to remove the ongoing risk of hybridization to native westslope cutthroat trout downstream of Gunsight Lake and provide westslope cutthroat and bull trout with habitat that is secure from the threats of hybridization and climate change,” states the environmental assessment. 

Montana lists both westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout as Species of Concern, and bull trout are considered a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. While neither species historically inhabited Gunsight Lake, the environmental assessment argued that the moderately sized alpine lake would be an ideal refugia for the trout. 

Gunsight Lake is separated from St. Mary Lake by several waterfalls, preventing the upstream migration of nonnative species that could hybridize with the native trout, and its high elevation provides a buffer against warming water temperatures.  

Officials planned to first dose Gunsight Lake with a pesticide called rotenone to kill the non-native rainbow trout previously introduced for sport before relocating westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout from nearby streams to the lake. 

In the lawsuit, Friends of the Wild Swan and the Council on Fish and Wildlife argued that the final environmental assessment failed to “answer reasonably foreseeable, key questions” about the second phase of the project, such as how many fish would be collected and what streams they would be collected from. While the environmental assessment was open for public comment, the organizations argued that this lack of detail prevented the public from substantially participating in the review process, as mandated under the National Environmental Protection Act. 

“The Park Service’s vague plan lacked essential, foreseeable details because the agency intended to finish the plan later with the US Fish and Wildlife Service—outside the light of public notice and comment,” stated a joint press release from the organizations. 

The lawsuit also argued that, per National Environmental Protection Act guidelines, the agencies should have considered how planned renovations to St. Mary Dam could create compounding impacts, and that a later decision to introduce mountain whitefish to Gunsight Lake as prey for the native trout should have been subject to a public comment period.  

The final allegation emphasized the “no take” provision of the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits the collection of listed species unless there is an explicit conservation or scientific purpose. The organizations alleged that federal officials failed to follow the proper protocols to obtain a collection permit for bull trout, which are included under the federal provision as a threatened species. 

“There was no disclosure. There was no analysis,” summarized Arlene Montgomery, the program director for Friends of the Wild Swan. “They didn’t even do a proper biological opinion.” 

Montgomery said she submitted a comment to the National Park Service detailing her concerns during the initial public review process. After the agency approved the plan in July 2023, she asked to review the project documents, first through a direct request to park officials and then through a Freedom of Information Act request. In reviewing the documents, she noticed discrepancies in the federal collection permit and other paperwork, which are detailed in the lawsuit. 

Katharine Hammond, the regional director for the National Park Service, acknowledged the environmental assessment’s deficits in the April 9 declaration, as well as discrepancies between the collection permit and planned project activities. Both Hammond and Glacier National Park Superintendent David Roemer formerly signed off on the project’s final environmental assessment. 

Park officials have already completed the first phase of the project, removing rainbow trout from Gunsight Lake. The motion for voluntary remand filed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes that the plaintiffs did not challenge this portion of the project. Collection of westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout had not yet begun. 

The National Park Service can still reintroduce the project if additional review finds negligible environmental impacts. 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at hsmalley@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4433.