Chilling Waters

I don't know if you remember but back in July I did a couple of stories on salmon and trout mortality as a result of warming river temperatures. At that time, Regional Fisheries Manager at Idaho Fish and Game, Jim Fredericks, talked with me about the drought and warm water that is gripping the fisheries of the West. No pun intended but his observations were chilling: ""There is no way to sugarcoat what we are seeing this here is streamflows that are 10 to 20% of what they should be this time of year and temperatures that are more like late August. We were seeing those back in late June. It is not going to be a good year for fish." That prediction turned out to be true so imagine my delight when I picked up the paper and saw a headline saying, 'Feds eye refuges for cold water species in five states'. The Associated Press reported that federal scientists using new technologies have mapped what is being called a Cold Water Climate Shield which is an area in the northwest that could support viable populations of native species if the region continues its warming trend. They went on to say that mapping the cold water refuges for cutthroat trout and threatened bull trout could help resource managers make decisions aimed at preserving populations of those and other cold water native species. A little bit tough to understand but those were the words of Dan Isaak, a research fisheries biologist with the US Forest Service who's involved with laying out this ambitious plan.