Youth Conservation & Education EXPO in the Bitterroot

Shooting | Hunting | Ethics | Education 

No cost to attend & food available for purchase onsite! 

When: Saturday, May 4, 2013 - 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Where: Red Slack Barn, Teller Wildlife Refuge, 1180 Chaffin Lane, Corvallis, MT

• Live Bird Presentation by Raptors of the Rockies (10 am only)
•  Drawings for Teddy Roosevelt Outdoor Adventure Camp
•  BB Gun Shooting and Archery Ranges 
• FWP Poaching Trailer & FWP Laser Shooting Range
•  Fly Casting & Fly Tying Clinics 
• Duck, Goose, Turkey & Elk Calling
•  Horse Packing Clinic
• Big Game Scoring, and MORE! 

 Questions? Tom (406-531-4224) or Jon (406-546-5995)

Greetings from the Montana Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program

2013 BOW Workshop Information

·        Ice Fishing Workshop on February 8-10

·        Help us spread the word about BOW

·        Awesome International BOW Trip

·        Watch for more 2013 Workshops

Registration is open for Ice Fishing near Bigfork — February 8-10, 2013
It doesn’t get better than this -- $100 registration fee covers 2 nights lodging, meals from Friday dinner through Sunday breakfast and lots of ice fishing gear to bring home.  Put on some warm clothes, get outside and try ice fishing.

This workshop is at Big Sky Bible Camp with a very short walk from the lodge to Peterson Lake. This workshop is for beginner and intermediate anglers and includes some optional indoor activities and night fishing.

Don’t need lodging?  Contact Liz for a reduced rate.  Scholarships available. 

Ice Fishing Registration form is attached or download at: http://fwp.mt.gov/education/bow/workshops.html

FWP is hosting a women's ice fishing workshop Feb. 8-10

BIGFORK - If you don't want to wait until spring to start fishing, Fish, Wildlife and Parks is hosting a women's ice fishing workshop Feb. 8-10 at Peterson Lake.
A $100 fee pays for all fishing gear, food and two nights lodging at a camp on the shore of Peterson Lake near Bigfork.
The workshop is sponsored by FWP's Becoming an Outdoors-Woman Program.
Beginner and intermediate anglers are welcome. Activities include learning to use ice fishing rods, tip-ups, ice augurs and sonar fish finders. Participants don't need a fishing license.
For more information, call BOW coordinator Liz Lodman at 406-444-9940 or email llodman@mt.gov.
Click here for an online registration form.

Ice Fishing — February 8-10, 2013

Near Bigfork, MT

Fee: $100

Don't sit inside waiting for the long winter months to pass by. Put on some warm clothes, get outside and try ice fishing. This workshop is at Big Sky Bible Camp with a very short walk to Peterson Lake. You'll learn to use ice fishing rods and tip-ups and other gear like ice augers and sonar fish finders. The workshop is for beginner and intermediate anglers and includes some optional indoor activities and night fishing. The registration fee includes all your fishing equipment, 2 nights lodging dn meals from Friday dinner through Sunday breakfast.

• Beyond BOW Ice Fishing Brochure ( 857 KB)

BRTU News - Memorial Day 2012 Edition, lots of news

By Marshall Bloom, BRTU

As we all hunker down the cool rainy weather, here are a few bits that may be of interest:

FISHING LICENSES

Don’t forget your 2012 license. The MFWP On-Line Licensing system makes doing this from home a snap, especially when you realize the night before that trip to the Smith you forgot to get one. Here is the website: https://app.mt.gov/Als/Index

MONTANA BECOMING AN OUTDOOR WOMAN (BOW) BIRDING WORKSHOP

Liz Lodman, Montana BOW Coordinator (llodman@mt.gov), gave a great presentation at a recent BRTU meeting last fall and has sent along the following information about an upcoming workshop.

On June 22-24, the Montana BOW program is sponsoring a birding workshop. The workshop is primarily for the beginning birder and will help participants improve bird identification skills while viewing a variety of birds found in the Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge area. 

The workshop runs Friday evening through Sunday noon and is based out of Ninepipes Lodge in Charlo.  If you plan to attend this workshop please contact Ninepipes Lodge to make your reservation. 406-644-2588, http://ninepipeslodge.com/index.html

Click http://fwp.mt.gov/education/bow/workshops.html for more info

Lodging arrangements are the responsibility of the participants.    Sign up with a friend and share a room at the hotel.  The workshop registration fee includes all meals and supplies for the class.

The registration form is shown in the images and information is also on the BOW web page at:  http://fwp.mt.gov/education/bow/workshops.html

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF PUBLIC LANDS.

It’s a fine old Bitterroot tradition to slam public lands and recreation as a drain on the local economy and an impediment to community vitality. Of course, most of us realize that this is a bromide of antediluvian proportions, but a recent conference held in Whitefish provided some compelling data about the economic value of public lands in Montana.

Chris Mehl, who is policy director of Headwaters Economics stated it clearly when he said, “So not only are counties with a higher percentage of federally protected lands enjoying more job growth, but people are finding that they can perform the same high-level work here as they can in bigger markets.”

Here is the link to an article in the May 12 Missoulian reporting on the conference. http://missoulian.com/business/montana-inbusiness/montana-s-public-lands-help-drive-job-growth-report-says/article_2a465928-9ca2-11e1-8814-0019bb2963f4.html

PROTECTING BULL TROUT IN SWAN LAKE.

Montana FWP has prepared an environmental analysis (EA) that recommends continuing a program to reduce non-native, predacious lake trout at Swan Lake. The illegally introduced lake trout threaten one of the nation's most important bull trout populations as well as an important sport fishery for kokanee salmon in Swan Lake.

Montana TU has issued an Action Alert asking folks to support this EA. A copy of the Action Alert is attached. If you have questions, contact the Montana TU Office at 543-0054.

JUNE 2 TU BURNT FORK REVEGETATION PROJECT.

Volunteers are needed to ! Please join us!

Your help on this project will have an immediate positive impact on the health of the Burnt Fork! Over the past year, Trout Unlimited installed a mile of riparian fencing on the Ellison Cattle Company property, just East of Stevensville. Portions of the stream need to be planted with riparian vegetation to provide shade and stabilize the streambank. Please consider lending a hand for all or part of the day! You’ll get a sack lunch!

The work crew will meet on Saturday June 2nd 10 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at the Stevensville Ranger District Office at 10 a.m.  (88 Main St. Stevensville MT). Folks from Missoula are meeting at west side parking lot of the south Walmart at 9 a.m. to car pool.  

 For more information or to RSVP, please contact Nick Littman ph. 541-1195 or nlittman@tu.org

SEPTEMBER 28 BRTU BANQUET

We are starting to work on the banquet. We really need some volunteers. This will be our 33^rd annual banquet! Please let me know if you are willing to assist. drtrout@mtbloom.net

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Bitterroot Chapter of Trout Unlimited Summer Intern Announcement

2012 BRTU/USFS/MFWP Fisheries Intern Announcement
 
Once again, the Bitterroot Chapter of Trout Unlimited in conjunction with Bitterroot National Forest the Montana Dept of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks will be filling a GS-3 ($11.95/hour) summer fisheries technician job.  This is one of the ways that our chapter uses the money we raise at our banquet to support Native Trout protection and restoration.

The application process is simple - send a resume and cover letter to US Forest Service Fisheries Biologist Mike Jakober (mjakober@fs.fed.us). Please note that the deadline for applications is March 26th.  Feel free to distribute the announcement to any potential candidates.

Dates For Applying  –  Resumes need to be received no later than March 26, 2012.  The application process is simply a resume that is sent to Mike Jakober.  Resumes can be sent electronically or hard copy.  Transcripts and proof of college registration will be required prior to hiring the selected individual.
Electronic address:  mjakober@fs.fed.us
Mail:  West Fork Ranger District, 6735 West Fork Rd., Darby MT  59829.  Attn: Mike Jakober.
Phone:  406-821-3269

Dates of Employment  – June 4 to August 24, 2012 (some flexibility exists).

Pay Rate –  Pay grade would be a GS-3, which is $11.95/hour.

Qualifications  –  The Forest Service would hire the intern under the Student Temporary Employment Program.  The intern would need to show that they intend to go into fisheries or a closely related field and would be attending college as an undergraduate or graduate student in the fall of 2012.

Duties  –  The intern would work from the Stevensville and West Fork Ranger Districts, with the Forest’s fisheries crews.  In August, the intern would assist Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP) biologists conducting mark/recapture electrofishing surveys.  The goal is to expose the intern to a wide range of field-going fisheries duties, including:

• Conducting fish population surveys with electrofishers and by snorkeling
• Conducting fish habitat inventories
• Conducting mountain lake surveys
• Implementing fish habitat improvement projects
• Monitoring and maintaining livestock exclosure fences and grazing allotments
• Monitoring road decommissioning and timber harvest projects
• Deploying thermographs to monitor water temperatures
• Conducting flow measurements in dewatered streams

The intern would spend most of their time in the field working alongside regular summer field crews.  There would be minimal office work.  The intern may also participate on a few backcountry mountain lake or snorkel surveys.  The intern would rotate between the West Fork and Stevensville Ranger Districts of the Bitterroot National Forest.  In August, the intern would also assist FWP biologists when mark/recapture population estimates are being conducted.  The intern would keep a concise daily log to be compiled into a brief reporting of accomplishments and suggestions for improving the intern program.  This would be provided to TU in written format at the end of the season.  If the intern is attending a Montana college, they would be expected to conduct an informal presentation at a Bitterroot Chapter Trout Unlimited meeting during the autumn or winter of 2012-13.  The Chapter would like to see and hear firsthand about the intern’s experiences.

Housing – Forest Service bunkhouse space will likely be available at either the West Fork or Stevensville Ranger Stations.  If the employee stays in a bunkhouse, rent, which is about $5.00 per day, is automatically deducted from the employee’s paycheck.

Download this information in a PDF file or Word.doc

Public input sought for Montana fishing regulations - Hamilton meeting is June 8

Photo courtesy Billy Burk

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks review statewide fishing regulations and proposal changes every four years and offers public discussion forums. 

The 2011 MT FWP review public meeting in Hamilton, Montana is:

• Date: Wednesday, June 8
• Time: 7:00 pm
• Where: Bitterroot National Forest Supervisor's Office, 1801 North 1st, Hamilton, MT 406-363-7100. Park behind the building and enter through the back door.

There are a number of proposals statewide. Some of the proposals could potentially affect the fishing regulations in the Bitterroot. Specifically, the two proposals that anglers in the Bitterroot might be interested in are:  

1. Increasing harvest on expanding brown trout populations in areas such as Rock Creek (near Clinton), Bitterroot River and Clark Fork River drainages. and

2. Simplify the regulations throughout the Region by reducing the number and variety of harvest regulation exceptions, particularly within the Bitterroot drainage and between rivers.

Montana Fish  Wildife and Parks will present information and accept comments from the public.

The public comments will be considered when recommendations are placed on the statewide list of tentative proposals. The tentative list will be available this summer and additional  comments accepted at that time. Eventually, the Montana Fish and Game Commission will make final decisions in October 2011.

Questions? Email Chris Clancy at cclancy@fs.fed.us

Painted Rocks Reservoir in the Bitterroot Valley and How It Is Operated

Information from and email by Larry A. Schock, CFM DNRC Water Resources Division

Hello Everyone,
The DNRC has received several inquires lately concerning the outflows at Painted Rocks Reservoir and how the reservoir is operated. Therefore, the following email will provide a brief explanation of reservoir operations.

The operation of Painted Rocks Reservoir involves three main parties. The DNRC, the Painted Rocks Water Users Association (PRWUA), and the MT FWP. Painted Rocks Reservoir holds approximately 32,656 acre-feet (af) of water, with 25,000 af of that stored water marketed to the MT FWP and the PRWUA. Additionally, there is the Bitterroot River Water Commissioner who manages the river in a manner that insures the apportionment and diversion of decreed and contract waters.

The DNRC is owner of the dam and the reservoir area. It is our responsibility to insure that the reservoir is filled and operated safely and that water is available for delivery to the contract holders. Once the reservoir is full the amount of water that flows into the reservoir equals the reservoir outflows. The reservoir is held in this state of equilibrium until the contract water is requested. The DNRC is under contractual obligation to deliver the contract water a the dam to the contract holders when it is called for.

The 10,000 af (or 2/5ths) of shares that has been marketed to the PRWUA is primarily used for agriculture purposes. Releases to the PRWUA usually occurs in mid July, but it is delayed this year due to higher than normal flows on the East Fork and the Mainstem of the Bitterroot River.

The other 15,000 af (or 3/5ths) of shares has been marketed to the MT FWP for in-stream uses . The local FWP contact in the Bitterroot Valley is Chris Clancy at 363-7169. The FWP contract water is released for instream flows in the mainstem of the Bitterroot River, based upon the conditions at Bell Crossing. According to the FWP current guidelines, they determine their desired releases based upon a minimum targeted flow rate of approximately 450 cfs at the Bell Crossing gage. As of today the flow rate at the Bell Crossing gage is approximately 737 cfs. The current FWP guidelines do not discuss the release of water from the reservoir for the augmentation of flows in the West Fork of the Bitterroot River, only the mainstem of the Bitterroot River.
Recently inquires have been made to the DNRC about the following issues; low water levels effecting raft access to the river; low water levels effecting quality of fishing; low water levels effecting water temperatures; and bad access road into the shuttle parking area upstream of the USGS gage below the dam.

Low Water Levels
The low flow conditions in the West Fork of the Bitterroot River are simply a reflection of the low inflows into the reservoir. As inflows to the reservoir drop, the DNRC adjusts outflows to match. The DNRC is passing all of the inflows through the reservoir, either over the spillway or out of the low level outlet. Flows below the dam will raise, pending a call for contract water from either the PRWUA of the MT FWP. The DNRC has recently made several gate adjustments on July 23rd, 24th, and 28th in order to insure that the reservoir outflows matched the inflows. These adjustments are also needed in order to transition the flows from the spillway to the low level outlet in preparation for the anticipated contract water deliveries. An additional adjustment is anticipated on July 31st. Requests for the release of contract waters for in-stream purposes on the West Fork of the Bitterroot River should be directed to the FWP.

The dirt road that goes upstream past the USGS gage to the pioneer launch site below Painted Rocks Dam, is not a DNRC road and it is located on US Forest Service (USFS) property. Any concerns about this pioneer road, launch, and camping site should be directed to the USFS West Fork District Ranger Office.

Larry A. Schock,
CFMDNRC Water Resources Division
Missoula Regional Office
(406) 721-4284
lschock@mt.gov

Click here to go to the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (MT FWP) site for the West Fork of the Bitterroot.
Click here to go to the MT FWP site for Painted Rocks Reservoir, Tributary of the West Fork of the Bitterroot. They have an interactive map link.
Click here for contact information for US Forest Service, West Fork Ranger District.

Bitterroot River and Other Stories by Chris Clancy, Montana FWP Fisheries Biologist

Bitterroot Trout Unlimited General Meeting
April 16, 2009
The Elks Club, Hamilton, Montana

Chris Clancy presented a dynamic slideshow about trout in the Bitterroot River. He shared stories, photos, fish counts and statistics, and graphs about brown, rainbow, cutthroat trout and more.

There were close to 25 people in attendance and the crowd was immersed in his talk and visual aids. Chris asked for questions, and there were some, but mostly he provided us all with current and facinating information about the state of trout and their habitat in the Bitterroot River and it's tributaries.

He also shared that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (his office in the Bitterroot) and the Bitterroot National Forest Resource Staff have an especially effective relationship in monitoring and managing the health of the Bitterroot River, tributaries, and fishery. They share information, personnel, equipment and resources. This relationship and working with the University of Montana at Missoula and Montana State University at Bozeman allow better monitoring, information gathering and in depth studies to be accomplished. We are fortunate to have Chris and other biologists like him. Thank you all!

Chris is available for presentations. You can reach him at:
Chris Clancy, FWP, 1801 N. 1, Hamilton, MT 59840
phone: 406-363-7169
email: cclancy@mt.gov

Join us on Saturday, Mar 21. We are posting Bitterroot River trout fishing regulation signs

Bitterroot Trout Unlimited wants to make it easy for the public to know and follow the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Regulations for trout fishing (excerpted from FWP regs) as they can be different on various reaches. Violations are happening and trout are being harmed. We can help stop that.

We are calling for volunteers. On Saturday, March 21, we will team up and post regulation signs at as many river access points as needed - hopefully completing the project we started last year. We invite anyone who is interested to join us.

If you want to know what Bitterroot Trout Unlimited is doing to protect the Bitterroot River, get to know our members, and enjoy a morning near the river, come to one of two places at 9:00 am:

• Safeway in Hamilton parking lot (southeast of Hwy 93 and Main Street streetlight/intersection)


• the Stevensville Fishing Access Site (northeast side of the bridge)

BRTU members will be there to meet you, organizing the day's signing efforts.

The following materials will be provided though we would welcome donations of the same:

• Staple guns (bring your own if you have one)
• Metal fence posts and pounder (can always use another pounder)
• Plywood (provided by BRTU and cut to fit the laminated signs)
• baling wire to tie on the signs on the metal fence posts (provided by BRTU)

To volunteer, donate materials, or for more information, please contact:

• Geoff Fitzgerald at fitzes91@yahoo.com or 406-375-9064


• Jack Mauer at wapiti@wapiti-waters.com or 406-642-6548


• or stop by the Fishaus Fly Fishing to talk with Bill Bean, 702 North First Street, Hamilton, MT

Below is a slideshow of Victor crossing, only a few signs remain in good shape. This area needs to be reposted.

View Album Click view album for bigger view in new window. Choose "slideshow" for full screen mode.

Examples of the signs: