TU Snake River Headwaters Initiative - Issue #15
Dear Friends,
Hello from Jackson Hole and welcome to the 15th edition of our e-newsletter! After a cool, rainy summer, we have been soaking up the sunshine and fishing on these beautiful fall days.
The changing of the seasons is bringing change for me professionally as well. I wanted to share the news that I’ve been promoted to the role of Wyoming State Director. This is a new role for TU as part of our Western reorganization, spurred by our impressive organizational growth over the past few years. Rest assured, a continued focus on overseeing the forward momentum and health of the Snake River Headwaters Initiative - including our projects, watershed leadership, partners, and supporters - will continue to be a high priority for me and TU in this new role (including seamless coverage of our current projects and collaboratives). I will also be committed to applying our locally-proven strategies to our other priority waters within the state – the Green River, Yellowstone River, Bear River, and Platte River basins – and beyond.
The special brand of conservation and model for “One TU” that we have built locally in the Snake Headwaters inspires my vision for Wyoming – a thriving statewide program focused on collaborative partnerships, stream reconnection and restoration projects, and water and federal lands policy, as well as the capacity-building, philanthropic support, youth education, communications, and grassroots engagement needed to sustain these efforts into the future. I am excited to be embarking on this new adventure together with our incredibly capable staff in the state, our new Vice President of the Rocky Mountain Region, Emily Olsen, and you, our partners and supporters.
We hope you will enjoy this fall e-newsletter issue, which features our upcoming volunteer projects, the first year of our fish passage barrier inventory on the Bridger-Teton, a Department of Interior stakeholder meeting, the Salmonfly Project, and a friendly Old Bill’s reminder. As always, we would love to hear from you!
All the best,
Leslie Steen
4+ Fall Projects and Many Opportunities to Volunteer!
It’s shaping up to be a busy fall, with three larger restoration projects being constructed on the mainstem Snake, Gros Ventre, and Upper Hoback Rivers, and one on the Salt River! Alongside the “big yellow equipment” we’ve contracted to do the bulk of the heavy lifting, these projects are requiring large amounts of woody materials to build bioengineered, fish-friendly streambanks. Rounding up these materials - over 15,000 trees, 20,000 pieces of brush, and 45,000 willow cuttings - has been a massive undertaking, especially as some sources have fallen through. To get across the finish line, we need as much volunteer help as we can get in late September and October to cut willows and prep brush (we’ll also need help with our annual fish rescues in October as well). If you are interested and available, please contact Sawyer Finley at sawyer.finley@tu.org.
Doesn’t this look like fun? Shout out to Snow King Mountain, who has shown up in spades to offer materials, trail crew, and equipment operator support this month. The timelapse from above shows staff and volunteers from Snow King, Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and TU working to cut and prep small aspen trees for our Lower Snake River Ranch project. The effort will also make for better tree skiing on the back side of Snow King!
100 Culverts Inventoried With BTNF and Coombs
This summer, TU embarked on an ambitious effort to assess and prioritize all of the culverts in the Snake River watershed portion of the Bridger-Teton National Forest for fish migration potential. Using GIS, we identified 350 road and stream crossings to survey using a newer protocol recommended by our agency partners and TU Science Team. Snake River Headwaters Project Manager, Sawyer Finley, explored the backroads of the Bridger-Teton all summer with Coombs Outdoors Empower Intern Mikey Klein and completed over 100 inventories. We look forward to continuing this work next summer!
DOI, BOR, Stakeholders Continue Jackson Lake Flow Discussions
In July, we were invited to participate in a stakeholder listening session with Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton, Bureau of Reclamation Regional Director Jennifer Carrington, and National Park Service leadership to discuss the Jackson Lake Dam flow crisis and future water management. We were encouraged to hear that the ecosystem and community that the Snake River supports are a priority for the Department of the Interior and its agencies to help maintain. Through our communication with agency partners, leadership role in the establishment of the new Snake River Headwaters Watershed Group, and involvement in new research efforts soon-to-be launched, this issue continues to be an important priority for us as well as the community - as evidenced by all the recent coverage in the Jackson Hole News & Guide (shared in the below links).
For Snake River flows, deputy Interior secretary says everything is on table - jhnewsandguide.com
“Tommy Beaudreau, second in command at the U.S. Department of the Interior, sees debates about using water in the Snake River, like using water in the Colorado River, as one of the most pressing challenges facing the department.”
Abrupt cut in dam release disconnects Snake River - jhnewsandguide.com
“Two years ago, at the end of the irrigation season, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation cut flows from Jackson Lake Dam — sharply. When officials with the federal water management agency did so, they changed how the Snake River was flowing some 30 miles south near the Wilson bridge, according to a new study released by the Teton Conservation District and Trout Unlimited.”
BuRec once again eyes sharp Jackson Lake Dam drawdown - jhnewsandguide.com
“When the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation starts cutting flows from Jackson Lake Dam later this month, the cut will be less drastic than a controversial 2021 flow reduction that stranded fish and raised river runners’ hackles.”
“After a protracted controversy this spring over how much water would leave Jackson Lake Dam, federal water managers are reconsidering how they manage part of the Snake River: minimum winter flows that leave Jackson Lake Dam, keeping water flowing through Oxbow Bend and protecting the fish that dwell there.”
Salmonfly Project Engages Citizen Scientists
This week, TU volunteers, staff, and partners have been assisting Montana-based researcher Jackson Birrell with an exciting new citizen science project aimed at tracking changes to aquatic insect populations in our home watershed over time. Through the establishment of 10 long-term aquatic insect and habitat monitoring sites on the mainstem Snake River from Jackson Lake Dam to Palisades Reservoir, the Salmonfly Project seeks to facilitate a better understanding of aquatic insect declines, both here locally and across the West, and contribute to management decisions.
Salmonfly Questions - drakemag.com
“Over the past sixty years, salmonfly declines have been reported in at least eleven important fisheries in the Rocky Mountain West.”
Last Call for Old Bill’s Fun Run Giving!
There’s still time to make a gift to the Trout Unlimited – Jackson Hole Chapter through Old Bill’s Fun Run this year! JHTU is a co-founder of the Snake River Headwaters Initiative and generously continues to support our program and project costs thanks to donations received through Old Bill's and the Tie One On Banquet. Donations must be received by today, Friday, September 15th at 5 pm. A big thank you to all those who have already supported us through donations and volunteering!