The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide this fall whether to list Montana’s Arctic grayling as a threatened or endangered species. There’s no argument that few of the fish are still alive. They occupy only about 4 to 5 percent of their original territory in the Missouri River drainage. But in the last 20 years state and federal officials have been working with Big Hole Valley landowners to help ensure the fish isn’t listed. The projects have ranged from drilling wells for cattle troughs to keep protect streambanks, to building new headgates on irrigation ditches and installing fish ladders. The work, according to Montanabiologists, is paying off. The fish is showing some rebound after some tough drought years. But the question is whether the work has been enough? To read more about the fish, see my story online at http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/
