Commentary from Montana Trout Unlimited Executive Director Bruce Farling During pretty much every Montana Legislature the mining industry comes in asking for special gifts. This session the industry wants the ability to trump water rights — all water rights, including very old, established rights for agricultural irrigation, hydropower, municipalities and...

We need your help. An illegally introduced population of walleye is thriving in Noxon Reservoir. Montana FWP has made it clear that illegal introductions will not be tolerated in Montana waters and they have long opposed the introduction of walleye west of the continental divide. The agency is in...

Saving the Yellowstone Cutthroat in Yellowstone Lake Tuesday March 19, 2013 Flathead Valley TU will welcome Dave Sweet, Yellowstone Lake Special Project Manager for Wyoming TU for a program on efforts currently underway in Yellowstone Lake to recover the Yellowstone cutthroat. Dave was recently named a Conservation Hero by...

From the Flathead Beacon – 03/14/2013 Not long ago, the Flathead basin had the largest and healthiest population of native bull trout in the country with possibly 20,000 or more adult fish. Angler harvest of bull trout in the Flathead River system was 6,000 to 8,000 bull trout each...

August, 1998, 27 rail cars hauling barley and wheat went upside down, spilling their loads east of Essex, MT near Bear Creek, a tributary to the Wild and Scenic Middle Fork of the Flathead River. March 2011, 19 rail cars came unglued four miles west of Essex. One car...

It is now halftime at the 2013 legislative session, and legislators have headed home for a few days. If your legislators are planning local meetings during the break, we encourage you to attend and engage them in how they’ve been treating rivers, water and fish at the Capitol. You...

Dear Flathead Valley TU members and Friends, Tell your Montana House member TODAY to oppose HB 561, which sanctions unlimited use of groundwater sources that are critical for recharging trout streams. Background The Montana House is considering HB 561, sponsored by Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick (R-Great Falls) and supported by...

Last week, Idaho Fish and Game held their annual “State of the Lake” meeting for Pend Oreille to discuss developments in the Fishery Recovery Effort on the lake during the past year and the news is pretty much all good for the Pend Oreille fishery. In 2006, IDFG began...

Here is some good information on House Bill 187 which provides for an exemption from licensing requirements for “outfitters assistants”. This is another one of those bill that looks fairly reasonable until you dig into the details. The bill passed the House on a vote of 98-0 on Feb....

Okay, so it’s probably not likely that you are going to make it to the big climate rally in Washington D.C. this Sunday. That’s no excuse to sit on your collective duffs. There are three climate rallies scheduled for the Flathead this Sunday Feb. 17 in conjunction with the...