Dems visit fly shop

Montana’s highest ranking Democrats were in Columbia Falls last week to talk to business owner Hilary Hutcheson on legislative issues.

Senate minority leader John Sasso of Butte and House minority leader Jenny Eck of Helena spent about an hour and half with Hutcheson. Hutcheson owns Lary’s Fly Shop on Nucleus Avenue, is a journalist, fly-fishing TV personality and guide.

Hutcheson said there’s a host of issues that impact her business, from climate change to annual attempts by Congress to transfer federal lands to the states, where she’s worried they’d simply be liquidated to the highest private bidder.

She noted that Montana’s stream access law is continually under threat both at the state and federal level as well.

Climate change has multiple impacts. Not only does it impact streamflows and fish, it also impacts crowds on the rivers. When the more famous streams south of here see “hoot owl” restrictions which have, in the past, either curtailed or closed fisheries like the Blackfoot and the Bitterroot, that means more crowds in the Flathead.

In addition, climate change is impacting the genetics of the fish in the Flathead. Non-native rainbow trout, she explained, do better in warmer water and cross-breed with the native west slope cutthroat trout, diluting the gene pool.

There’s worry that the native trout in some stretches of local rivers could be wiped out.

Hutcheson said the current growth in Columbia Falls has its pros and cons. It could be good for business, but it could also mean higher rents. The charm of Columbia Falls is that it’s a “lunch pail” community of working class folks, who despite political differences, get along and treat each other neighborly, she noted.

She recalled the story behind the name of her shop. Lary’s is what the old timers who came to her volleyball games called her. She tore a second “l” off her misspelled jersey when she played for the Wildkats, so her name looked like “Hi Lary,” and thus, “Lary’s Fly Shop.”

Eck and Sasso were joined by Whitefish lawmaker Dave Fern. They didn’t lay out any great plans for the next session ­— it was mostly just an effort to talk to business owners across the state, they said. Columbia Falls was the last place on their statewide tour, they said.