Mitigation Efforts to Increase Connectivity for Adfluvial Bull Trout in the Lower Clark Fork River, Montana and Idaho

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued Avista Corporation a new operating license for Cabinet Gorge and Noxon Rapids dams in 2000.  Within this license, the Clark Fork Settlement Agreement (CFSA) established a process for the collaborative implementation of various mitigation measures.  One component of the CFSA, the Native Salmonid Restoration Plan (NSRP), utilizes adaptive management to mitigate for the effects of the dams as obstructions to fish passage and to increase the long-term population viability of native salmonids within the Lake Pend Oreille – lower Clark Fork River system.  Under the NSRP, programs to facilitate the upstream transport of adult bull trout and downstream transport of juvenile bull trout were initiated in 2001.  The Upstream Fish Passage Program employs night electrofishing, rapid-response genetic assignment, and upstream transport to reconnect adfluvial bull trout with their natal streams.  Under the Tributary Trapping and Downstream Juvenile Bull Trout Transport Program, juvenile bull trout are trapped within natal streams, transported around the dams, and released in the Clark Fork River downstream of Cabinet Gorge Dam.  The collective effort of NSRP programs has re-established connectivity within the Lake Pend Oreille – lower Clark Fork River system while allowing flexibility to address other emerging concerns.