A young rainbow trout, which is part of a telemetry study, migrated from the Clark Fork River below the dam into the Blackfoot River less than two weeks after the dam was breached.
The trout’s passage is a milestone in the Milltown Superfund project, which is allowing the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers to flow freely and reconnecting tens of thousands of fish with their traditional spawning grounds for the first time since the dam was completed in 1908.
David Schmetterling, a state fisheries biologist who has studied the dam’s impact for a decade, said he was initially irritated about the young trout’s decision to desert his downstream study.
“My first reaction was purely clinical, but on the other hand it’s pretty cool,” he said. “I’ve handled hundreds of thousands of fish that had their migrations impeded by that dam, so it’s very gratifying to be a part of this project.”
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