NO FISHING HERE

U.S. Fish and Wildlife has completed a draft bull trout recovery plan.  Go << HERE >> and click on a link to the river system you are interested in to learn more about the recovery plan in that drainage.  They estimate it will take at least 25 years to recover the bull trout.  

In 2004 USFWS finalized the "critical habitat designations" for the Klamath and Columbia River systems. But environmentalists took USFWS to court and forced the agency to reconsider.  In  2005, USFWS once again "finalized" the Critical Habitat designations.

USFWS does not like to do the designations.  They consider them to be a waste of time and money and an invitation to litigation.  They estimate that the economic cost for bull trout recovery will cost 116 million dollars just in Montana and Idaho.   We were very glad to see these massive cuts in the DCH.  But, alas, the radical environmentalists were not satisfied and they have prevailed against common sense.   

Designation of  "critical habitat" can reduce economic and recreation opportunities in the Pacific Northwest states. We want to emphasize that Montana already has implemented a bull trout recovery plan for the state, which in turn has already shown some positive results in the Swan River and Lake Kookanusa drainages. There is therefore no need for "critical habitat" designation on all Western Montana rivers and lakes.

Even though USFWS designated Critical Habitat for bull trout in 2005 they have still not completed the recovery plan.  According to the USFWS website, the draft recovery plan is on hold pending completion of the scheduled 5 year review of the listing.  So we have the ludicrous situation of regulating habitat without a completed plan.