On July 22, Wilderness Watch and allies filed suit in the U.S. District Court for Montana asking for a preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order to halt the State of Montana’s North Fork Blackfoot Westslope Cutthroat Trout Project—a massive stream poisoning and fish stocking project in the Scapegoat Wilderness that could begin as soon as August 1. The Forest Service (FS), in blatant violation of the Wilderness Act, issued a decision on July 15 authorizing Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) to make approximately 67 helicopter landings in the Wilderness, apply rotenone to kill previously stocked fish in 67 miles of stream and 3 lakes, restock naturally fishless waters with hatchery-reared westslope cutthroat trout, and use motorized and gas-powered boats and equipment in the Wilderness. The Scapegoat Wilderness is the southern anchor of the famed Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, an area of 1.6 million unbroken acres of designated Wilderness that is home to rare species such as grizzly bears, wolves, and wolverines. The Forest Service abdicated its responsibility to the Scapegoat and its wildlife by unlawfully approving FWP’s poisoning project with a categorical exclusion (CE), avoiding the required full environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which would have included analyzing a full range of alternatives, some of which could have protected the Scapegoat Wilderness. “The helicopter landings, broadscale use of poisons in lakes and free-flowing waters, and intensive wildlife manipulations authorized by the Forest Service in this case represent one of the most egregious intrusions in Wilderness,” stated George Nickas, executive director of Wilderness Watch. “It shows a total disregard for what Wilderness is all about.” The streams, lakes, and upper reaches of the North Fork Blackfoot River approved for poisoning are naturally fishless. The State’s goal is to kill the fish it has been stocking in these headwater streams for several decades and replace them with westslope cutthroat trout, a species native to the lower reaches of the North Fork. Poisoning streams and stocking naturally fishless waters with fish will wreak havoc on the natural aquatic ecosystem in the Scapegoat Wilderness. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Forest Service refer to the natural condition of these waters as “barren,” but in fact they are rich aquatic ecosystems filled with life. The poison rotenone has been shown to kill many of the organisms that derive oxygen from the water, including aquatic vertebrates and invertebrates, amphibians, and other species that naturally occur in these streams. Introducing westslope cutthroat—an effective predator—into naturally fishless ecosystems has been shown to have devastating effects to natural systems throughout the West. “Wilderness exists to allow natural ecosystems to evolve in their own way, not to serve as game farms or fish hatcheries,” added Nickas. “That’s why Wilderness is so important for conservation, science, and the human spirit.” The conservation groups are represented by Wilderness Watch staff Attorney, Dana Johnson, and Tim Bechtold of Bechtold Law Firm. |
