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Trout Unlimited’s West Slope Chapter receives $9,746 to restore Deer Creek

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The Deer Creek culvert removal will provide native spawning habitat for west slope cutthroat and bull trout from the Clark Fork River. Photo by Ben Pierce.

Trout Unlimited LogoTrout Unlimited, the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization, awarded a $9,746 Embrace-A-Stream grant to its West Slope Chapter in Missoula on April 5, 2010.

The Embrace-A-Stream grant will fund a project to remove a culvert where Deer Creek enters the Clark Fork River near the site of the old Milltown Dam east of Missoula. The Milltown Dam and the Clark Fork River, which for 160 years was used to dispose of toxic waste from mining and smelting operations upstream in Butte and Anaconda, is one of the nation’s largest Superfund sites.

The Deer Creek restoration project, which will be undertaken in conjunction with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Park, aims to improve habitat for west slope cutthroat and bull trout that historically used Deer Creek as a spawning area.

“Through the hard work of TU members across the country, we are able to put our organization’s mission into action,” said Bryan Moore, TU vice president for volunteer operations and watershed programs. “TU’s grassroots members work tirelessly to protect and restore the nation’s coldwater resources so that they will exist for generations to come.”

The Embrace-A-Stream program aims to provide over $125,000 to 24 projects in 15 states during 2010. Embrace-A-Stream efforts will tackle riparian habitat restoration, improving fish passage and protecting water quality. Many Embrace-A-Stream projects will benefit eastern brook trout from Maine to Georgia, and others will help protect cutthroat trout in the West as well as coho and chinook salmon in the Pacific Northwest.

Since Embrace-A-Stream’s inception in 1976, the project has funded more than 950 individual projects totaling approximately $4 million. As a result of this funding from Embrace-A-Stream, the projects have leveraged more than $12.7 million in additional funding.

Map to the old Milltown Dam

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This entry was posted by on Monday, April 5th, 2010 at 11:39 am and is filed under Conservation, Fishing, Trout Unlimited. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About The Author

Ben Pierce lives, works and plays in Bozeman, Montana. He blogs about the outdoors for Chronicle Outdoors. Catch him on the river, in the mountains or at bpierce@dailychronicle.com.

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