Tippets: Snake River Kill, Headwaters and Climate Change, Soda Butte Cutthroat Restoration, Diversions from the Colorado

September 14, 2016 By: Erin Block

  • Thousands of dead whitefish have been confirmed on the South Fork of the Snake River, and biologists suspect the cause is proliferative kidney disease, the same pathogen believed to be responsible for last month’s whitefish kill in the Yellowstone River. Via Idaho Statesman.
  • A newly published study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals certain ecosystems to be more resistant to the effects of climate change than previously thought. “The great irony is that the cold headwater streams that were believed to be most vulnerable to climate change appear to be the least vulnerable,” Daniel Isaak, a fish biologist for the U.S. Forest Service, said in a news release.
  • After the second season of poisoning brook trout in Soda Butte Creek and its tributaries, “We’re pretty confident this is totally done,” said Todd Koel, director of Yellowstone’s native fish conservation program. Read more on the efforts to restore native Yellowstone cutthroat populations from Brett French in The Montana Standard.
  • Mike Chiropolos reports on the effort to divert even more water from the Colorado River for Denver and the Front Range. “With final federal environmental reviews looming, it’s time to ask: Is this project needed, are its impacts justified, and are there better alternatives?” Via High Country News.