The Big Hole River near Wise River, Montana (Photo via Flickr | CC-BY-SA 2.0).
More than 30 outfitters, guides, lodge owners and anglers recently submitted an “emergency request” to Montana’s Gov. Greg Gianforte to immediately employ “the full engagement and all available resources under your authority as governor to both investigate this crash and help us develop solutions, before it’s too late.” The “crash” refers to the precipitous decline in the wild trout populations, for which the Big Hole River is internationally famous.
As detailed in Matthew Kiewiet’s recent article, The Big Hole River and its continued state of peril; trout numbers again at historic lows: “Conditions appear dire as ever and the worst seems yet to come.”
If that sounds like hyperbole, it is not.
As Kiewiet wrote: “Recent data from three sections of the 153-mile freestone river in southwest Montana showed the fewest number of brown and rainbow trout since data was first collected in 1969.” To put that in perspective, those numbers have plummeted from a healthy 2,000 to 3,500 trout per mile to a few hundred. And “the worst seems yet to come” refers to the extreme lack of juvenile trout biologists were able to locate during their fish surveys.
This didn’t just happen overnight — it’s been going on for decades. Thanks to over-appropriation under the archaic tenets of Western water law, those with senior water rights can legally run the river dry. Since water rights are guaranteed as property rights in Montana’s Constitution, the only way to keep the water in the river is to buy or lease those rights.
No little fish, however, means no big fish in the near future. And that brings us to the ongoing tragedy that has prompted the plea to Gianforte for “emergency action” — not only to save the river and its fabled fishery, but to maintain the river-based economy.
Unfortunately, there is no magic wand for the governor or anyone else to wave and restore the Big Hole in this crisis short of buying or leasing enough water rights to keep the river flowing in our ever-increasing periods of drought.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.
George Ochenski