Park trout projects start this summer

Glacier National Park and U.S. Geological Survey biologists will begin netting lake trout in Logging Lake this summer in an attempt to curb populations there, wilderness ranger Kyle Johnson said during a recent North Fork Interlocal Meeting.

Lake trout are a nonnative species and out compete native bull trout, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The hope is that by netting lake trout in Logging Lake, a once robust bull trout population will return.

Biologists will capture lake trout in select locations and kill them. To stop bears from getting the fish, the air bladders of the dead fish will be cut so they sink to the bottom when they’re dumped back in the lake. A similar project in nearby Quartz Lake has proven successful in curbing lake trout populations there, the scientists claim.

Last fall, biologists moved 111 bull trout from Logging Lake up the drainage to Grace Lake, which did not previously have bull trout but could prove to be a safe haven for them. Grace Lake is isolated from the rest of the North Fork drainage by a waterfall.

Biologists are hopeful the transported bull trout will spawn in Grace, as it has a suitable inlet stream.

Johnson also said work started last fall on construction of a fish barrier at Akokala Lake, which is home to a small population of bull trout. The barrier is designed to keep lake trout from entering the lake. That work should be finished up later this summer, he said.

Across the North Fork valley on the Coal Creek State Forest, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has plans to replace culverts on tributary streams to Coal Creek. The culverts are blocking upstream passage of fish, Stillwater State Forest unit manager Brian Manning said.

The new culverts feature much larger “instream” designs that allow fish passage. Both bull trout and native westslope cutthroat trout spawn in the tributary streams.