Comments Sought for Youngs Creek Project in Montana

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), Region One, is seeking public comment for the Youngs Creek Westslope Cutthroat Trout Broodstock Project. FWP proposes to collect approximately 300 juvenile westslope cutthroat from streams within the upper Youngs Creek drainage (Powell County, Range 13W, Township 18N) in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. These fish would be raised to maturity and spawned at the Sekokini Springs Cutthroat Trout Conservation Facility in Blankenship, Montana. Offspring produced from the wild donor fish would be used for restoration efforts associated with the South Fork Flathead Drainage Westslope Cutthroat Trout Conservation Program. The primary goal of this project is to conserve genetic diversity among populations of westslope cutthroat trout.

The comment period for this project will extend for three weeks, with written comments being accepted through 5:00 p.m., July 4, 2013. The draft EA is on the FWP web site, fwp.mt.gov under Public Notices. Copies are available at the FWP office, 490 N Meridian Rd., Kalispell; the Montana State Library, 1515 E 6^th Ave., Helena; and Flathead County libraries.

Contact person: FWP Fisheries Biologist Matt Boyer, (406) 751-4556 or e-mail to mboyer@mt.gov.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

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