Stream & Habitat Improvement Projects

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Trout Stream & Habitat Improvement Projects

2011 One Fly Award Grants

BQ Diversion Fish Passage and Screening (WY) (#28195)

Total Project Costs: $60,000

Project Area: Twin Creek, Wyoming

Trout Unlimited, Inc. will replace a diversion structure that is currently acting as a complete fish barrier on Twin Creek, a mid-elevation tributary that flows into the Bear River near Sage Junction in Wyoming. The project will benefit multiple native fish populations including Bonneville cutthroat trout (BCT), blue head sucker and northern leatherside chub which are all species of concern for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. During the spring of 2008, fish trapping efforts on lower Twin Creek revealed that several thousand native fish, including BCT, may be entrained at the BQ diversion and killed in the ditch each year. This project will replace the failing diversion structure with a new diversion and headgate to allow water users to completely shut off during non-use, increasing base flow during critical time periods to maintain the connectivity between Twin Creek and Bear River. Designs will include a fish screen to eliminate fish entrainment and improve survival rates for native fish populations in Twin Creek. The project will also benefit agricultural users by allowing them to meet their water use requirements while reducing or eliminating maintenance required on the structure. Project partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, and BQ Ranch landowners.

Chester Dam Fish Ladder and Fish Passage Monitoring (ID, WY) (#27871)

Creation of a Westslope Cutthroat Trout Brood in Yellowstone (MT, WY) (#28151)

Total Project Costs: $153,000

Project Area: Goose Lake Chain, Yellowstone National Park, Montana and Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park will develop a wild, self-sustaining, and abundant brood source of westslope cutthroat trout (WCT) in the Goose Lake chain, located in west-central Yellowstone National Park, to support WCT restoration throughout the region and bring public awareness to the species. No such brood currently exists and managers are often forced to turn to hatchery stocks or vulnerable existing populations as sources for reintroduction. The Goose Lake Chain (Goose, Gooseneck, and an unnamed lake) in the Fire Hole River drainage represents an opportunity to develop a brood that not only meets all the criteria given above but also provides the public an opportunity to experience WCT in a way not currently possible in Yellowstone National Park. The proposed project would require the removal of non-native rainbow trout from the lakes followed by the introduction of WCT to ensure a healthy population. Project partners include the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Montana State University, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Yellowstone Park Foundation.

Gros Ventre Fish Passage Improvement (WY) (#27804)

Total Project Costs: $40,000

Project Area: Gros Ventre River, Wyoming

Trout Unlimited, Inc. will enhance native fish passage to over 42 miles of the Gros Ventre River by removing a diversion structure at Kelly, Wyoming and restoring the river gradient at the site. The Newbold diversion, a historic but no longer used water diversion structure, limits upstream migration of adult trout. Radio telemetry of adult trout performed in 2007-08 showed that while some adult fish are able to pass upstream of the structure, nearly as many fish did not pass. The project will remove the channel-spanning diversion structure and restore the river gradient at the site, thereby completely restoring fish passage for native trout and non-game species. Project partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/National Elk Refuge, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Albert and Bertha Markstein Foundation, Marine Ventures Foundation, and private landowners.

Evaluating Fish Use and Movement on Spread Creek (WY) (#27472)

Total Project Costs: $63,158

Project Area: Spread Creek, Wyoming

The U.S. Geological Survey will utilize various sampling methods to evaluate Yellowstone cutthroat trout and other native and non-native fish use and movement following the removal of a fish passage barrier in Spread Creek, a tributary to the Upper Snake River north of Jackson, Wyoming. For over 40 years, an impassible water diversion structure blocked upstream passage for native fishes, including Yellowstone cutthroat trout, which are currently listed as a sensitive species in Wyoming. While the removal of this structure is anticipated to regain the hydrologic integrity of the stream and reconnect Spread Creek with the Snake River, the implications on instream biota are largely unknown. The project will quantify adult spawning movements upstream of the previous diversion structure site, changes in stream productivity, potential entrainment in the new diversion structure, and movement patterns of native and non-native fishes. The project will use a combination of fish sampling and recapture methods to quantify fish movement and habitat use in Spread Creek and is an important step in quantifying the success of on-the-ground restoration projects and directing similar instream improvement projects elsewhere. Project partners include the Bridger-Teton National Forest, U.S. Geological Survey, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Department of Game and Fish, and Trout Unlimited.

Reconnecting Trail Creek Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Habitat (ID) (#26733)

Total Project Costs: $135,680

Project Area: Trail Creek, Idaho

The Friends of the Teton River, Inc. (FTR) will stabilize 1,000 feet of stream banks and increase stream flows through water use agreements on Trail Creek, a headwater tributary to the Teton River in southeast Idaho, to benefit Yellowstone cutthroat trout (YCT) migration and spawning habitat. Past channelization work and over-grazing in the proposed project area have significantly reduced fish habitat, passage, and water quality, while irrigation withdrawal during critical YCT life cycle periods limit reproductive success. Restoration of the proposed project area has been prioritized by FTR and agency partners, and is critical to existing and future efforts to restore and stabilize the system. To test the efficacy of this work, FTR will conduct baseline and long-term bilogical monitoring by installing trout monitoring sites and by implementing monitoring activities that are designed to increase the quality of data regarding YCT migration, spawning and life history. This information will allow FTR and groups doing similar work, to tailor future stream flow and habitat restoration efforts and to achieve maximum resource benefit over time. Project partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Services, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the private landowner.

Teton River Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Restoration (ID) (#27120)

Total Project Costs: $79,500

Project Area: Teton River, Idaho

The Teton Regional Land Trust will restore 1,175 linear feet of streambank and riparian habitat along the Teton River on a property in Teton County, Idaho that is permanently protected by a conservation easement. Historic land use of the property has resulted in severely impacted riverbanks and riparian vegetation that has compromised fisheries habitat. Streambank and riparian habitat restoration along the project reach will: 1) increase protective riparian cover for native Yellowstone cutthroat trout, a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Idaho; 2) reduce sedimentation into the Teton River; 3) help maintain more optimal temperature conditions for fish; and 4) improve availability of terrestrial detritus, therefore increasing the availability of macro-invertebrate prey species. Bioengineering methods will be used to restore unstable riverbanks. Specific methods may include recontouring banks, creating in-set floodplains, planting willows, and revegetating with native wetland sod and grasses. Project partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Idaho Watershed Initiative, and the private landowner.

Teton Ten Program in Snake River Watershed (WY) (#28021)

Total Project Costs: $27,000

Project Area: Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyoming

The Teton Science School will connect kids to healthy outdoor activities across the Snake River headwaters in Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming while educating them about conservation and management of native western trout. Students will directly participate in an activities related to water and fisheries in the Snake River watershed, including fishing, planting willows, and monitoring stream water quality. The Teton Ten Program specifically addresses efforts related to the fourth goal of the Western Native Trout Initiative: “to engage, inform and inspire the public about conservation and management of native western trout.” This program takes a long-term view engaging the next generation of stewards and setting the foundation for habitat restoration and native trout population management to be in the forefront of minds and hearts of children within the Snake River Headwaters. Project partners will include U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, Grand Teton National Park, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service- National Elk Refuge, Wyoming Game and Fish, Teton Conservation District, and Girl Scouts of America.

Upper Greybull River Fish Passage Improvement (WY) (#28194)

Total Project Costs: $60,000

Project Area: Greybull River, Wyoming

Trout Unlimited, Inc. will install a fish ladder on a diversion structure within the mainstem of Greybull River, located 25 miles west of Meeteetse, Wyoming. The existing structure diverts water for agricultural uses and is a complete barrier for all native fish in the Greybull River, including Yellowstone cutthroat trout. The structure will be replaced by the Greybull Valley Irrigation District during the summer of 2011. Trout Unlimited, Inc. has received permission to install a fish ladder on the new diversion structure for the purpose of providing fish passage and accessibility to over 60 miles of habitat, including historical spawning and rearing tributaries for Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Project partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Greybull Valley Irrigation District, Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, and the ranch landowners.

Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Assessment and Priority Actions (ID, MT, WY) (#29535)

Total Project Costs: $15,000

Project Area: Snake and Yellowstone River basins in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming

Trout Unlimited will develop a spatially explicit habitat assessment and identify priority actions to guide conservation and recovery efforts for Yellowstone cuttroat trout (YCT) and Snake River fine spotted cutthroat trout (SRCT) in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. Over the next five years, the project will track the representation, resilience and redundancy of these two fish populations. Given that YCT and SRCT are listed as “species of concern” in the intermountain west states since their populations have steadily declined in the past several years, the development of this strategic plan will guide the grant making in the future and assure that investments address the most critical limiting factors. The strategic plan will compile information and build on current knowledge of where instream and riparian habitat areas need to be restored, where streamflows need to be increased during critical low flows, and where fish passage barriers have prevented access to spawning areas. In addition, hybridization with non-native trout will also need to be addressed. Once the plan is completed and approved by agencies, future grants made through the Jackson Hole One Fly Conservation Partnership program will focus on developing measurable population targets and monitoring population response as the limiting factors are addressed in the next five years.