As fall begins its march to the Rockies, anglers from across the world will once again slow their pilgrimage to the west in search of solitude and a willing fish.  For those who visited Montana this season, many of our streams in a state known as ‘trout heaven’ were once again closed or partially closed to fishing due to low flows and high water temperatures.

While Montana saw record stream flows and even significant flooding earlier in 2022, and while the state has seen near-record snow packs in a couple of recent years, closures like those throughout 2022 are becoming common.  

Clearly, these widely fluctuating seasonal flows and increasingly warmer waters are all being accelerated by changes in climate.  As clearly, the underlying problems cannot be solved by fishing closures.  Changes – in social water priorities, in respect for the values of ecosystem services, in real resource conservation – are all needed to deal headlong with climate change and our rapid loss of biodiversity.

As any good resource manager will recommend, ‘always start upstream.’  In many places these are cold or cool water headwaters, the habitats (or former habitats) for trout.  Cooler water may be achieved through more conservative water use by agriculture, the restoration of healthier, well-vegetated floodplains to add shade and slow flows – all ultimately conserving water in streams and stream banks.  Healthy stream-side vegetation and moderated flow levels act as a hedge against temperature extremes, drought, fire, floods, and pollutants – from the headwaters to the deltas.

The time is now to restore these resources to their fullest potential.  >Start in your backyard.