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Trout survival prompts bridge work near Henry's Lake

From the Rexburg Standard Journal
Thanks to some hard work by state and federal agencies and and community environmental groups, the Yellowstone cutthroat trout survival rate may improve in the Henry's Lake area.

The problem: Erosion of the streambeds on Targhee and Howard creeks below culverts under Idaho Highway 87 north of the lake had blocked fish movement between the lake and the spawning streams.

The fish had to be netted and transported around the blockage to get to the streams.
The Henry's Lake Foundation, Boy Scouts, Idaho Fish and Game staff and volunteers have helped move the fish to their spawning streams.

Targhee Creek alone accounts for about 70 percent of the naturally spawned cutthroat trout in Henry's Lake, according to a news release from Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, who participated Wednesday in a news conference at the site to announce the trout-saving project.

For as long as most people can remember, the spawning run of Yellowstone cutthroat trout up Targhee and Howard creeks has been in serious trouble, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition says in a news release. The coalition is one of the partners in the project.

The solution announced Wednesday: Two bridges will be built to replace the culverts and restore fish passage. Targhee Creek will be bridged, and a large, natural bottom arch culvert bridge will span Howard Creek.

Crapo says the Idaho Fish and Game, the Henry's Lake Foundation and Idaho Transportation Department worked to get the project done quickly.

"In crunching what could have been a seven-year construction plan into an expedited one-year project, they have been adaptable to a changing need and that will contribute greatly to the success that will come once the culverts are replaced with the bridges," Crapo says in a news release.

He also acknowledges the help of the coalition, the Forest Service, the Natuarl Resource and Conservation Service, the Henry's Fork Foundation and the High Country Resource Conservation and Development.

The bridge work will start in mid September and be completed by the end of September.

Besides the bridge work, stream restoration work will also be done in both streams.