The headwaters of the Missouri River in Montana were once home to thriving populations of fluvial Arctic Grayling, far from the core of their native range. However, after years of habitat destruction and non-native fish introductions the Arctic Grayling has vanished from many Montana watersheds. One of the last strongholds of these fish is in the Big Hole drainage, but even here their populations are in sharp decline. One of the biggest issues in the watershed has been the over use of water for irrigation resulting in low flows and high water temperatures. Now the question is can fluvial Grayling in the Big Hole River be saved.
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| The Arctic Grayling |
One of my good friends Jonathan Stumpf spent much of his time at grad school in Montana looking into the issues that are currently threatening the Big Hole Grayling, with the prospect of extinction unless action is taken soon. His story was recently covered in New West Travel and Outdoors and does a great job of showing what is standing in the way of a successful recovery for these rare fish. Please take the time to read through his article at: http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/can_conservation_and_collaboration_save_the_big_hole_grayling/C41/L41/
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