Volume 15, Number 3
Fall 2003

The Alliance is committed to gaining critical habitat protection necessary for bull trout recovery.

Alliance for the Wild Rockies has continued to make progress in its Bull Trout & Water Quality Protection campaign. As reported in this issue, AWR, and its Member Groups gained an important decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision means the State of Montana must develop cleanup plans and TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loads representing acceptable levels of point and non-point pollution sources) before allowing any further harm to rivers and streams under the Clean Water Act. This provides another boost in the effort to recover native species such as bull trout and cutthroat trout. In combination with the recent ruling halting a large timber sale on the Lolo National Forest because a TMDL hasn't been completed, the message is clear: water quality is vital and protection and cleanup laws must be followed and implemented.

We have been persistent in seeking final designation of critical habitat for bull trout under the Endangered Species Act. As reported in the previous issue, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has issued a press release stating that the critical habitat process offers no real legal protection for listed species. We feel very strongly, and have several court decisions to back it up, that critical habitat is a vital and mandatory provision of the ESA.

More recently, the government has asked AWR and FOWS to consider an extension of the deadline for when critical habitat designations must be finalized. As of the time this issue went to print, we were still in negotiations with the government and its attorneys. While we seek a negotiated settlement, we are prepared to once again take this issue to federal court to prevent a continuing pattern of delay in affording bull trout the legal protections they deserve under the law and must have if they are to survive and recover. Justice delayed is justice denied. Our commitment to the bull trout is to break this pattern and move forward with region-wide bull trout recovery, closely linked with other water protection laws. At the centerpiece of this plan is the promise of enormous economic benefit and opportunity that our region can enjoy from the restoration of clean water, recovered native fish populations and intact forested watersheds.

For example, thanks to the leadership of the Clark Fork Coalition, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it will remove and cleanup the Milltown Dam and surrounding area currently contaminated by toxic mine tailings. A major factor in this historic decision was the listing of the bull trout and the proposed critical habitat designation. Removal of the dam will eliminate a major blockage to bull trout spawning migrations, and will help rejuvenate bull trout populations in the Clark Fork River, Rock Creek and the Blackfoot River. It will also create an enormous economic impact on the Missoula area, through many jobs during the removal and cleanup phase, creation of a new public park, and restoration of fish populations.