Farmers to the Rescue

 Listen carefully to this and if you understand it, you’re a lot smarter than me. “An area effect is consistent with the predictions of island bio-geography and meta-population theory, and our work suggests that larger-scale spatial processes may be important to the persistence of species like bull trout.” That’s scientific talk from the U.S. Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, in Boise and I think it means that bull trout, which are threatened, need a specific type of habitat. Guess who’s coming to the rescue?

 “ In the upper Salmon River basin since 1993 farmers and ranchers have been working with government agencies to implement fish conservation projects. Over the years 1993-2006, farmers and ranchers, private land owners and some on public land have implemented 878 different conservation actions.” That’s Ted Kuch, Endangered species biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

  “All these individual actions of farmers consolidating diversions into one ditch, piping water to save water so more could be left in the stream for fish, screening the ditches, fencing cows out of streams, removing culverts that might be fish migration barriers” 

 It all started with a fishing farmer dreaming on a John Deer. That story tomorrow.