July 23, 2024

Partners in the Upper Blackfoot Confluence (UBC) met recently to review a list of stream restoration projects proposed by agencies, such as Idaho Department of Fish & Game, and the UBC project manager, Trout Unlimited, including approval of project funding for the year. The UBC partners recently approved over $275,000 to be invested in projects to be started and/or completed in 2024. Part of that funding includes dedicated technical and community outreach support from Hannah Murphy, the new Southeast Idaho Project Manager for Trout Unlimited, whose enthusiasm and collaborative spirit promise to drive forward restoration and conservation efforts in the region.

Murphy, who has a stream restoration background, expressed a keen interest in expanding her knowledge about fish and their habitats. "I'm most excited about learning more about Yellowstone cutthroat trout and other fish species" she said. "In my previous positions, I did stream restoration work, but fish weren't necessarily a priority. Here, I get to focus on stream restoration that specifically benefits fish."

Her approach is deeply collaborative, acknowledging the diverse stakeholders involved in UBC projects. "It's a unique partnership collaboration, and everyone has individual and group goals," Murphy noted. She emphasized the importance of respecting and working with these varying interests, especially when addressing practical issues like fencing and stream crossings.

Murphy's strategy involves a careful, data-driven approach to restoration. She plans to "chip away at a big landscape, little by little," focusing initially on areas like Diamond and Kendall Creeks. By leveraging data, she aims to identify and prioritize tributaries and upland areas of the Upper Blackfoot River watershed that would most benefit from project work and restoration.

Her dedication to fostering relationships is evident in her proactive engagement with different partners in Caribou County since starting her role at Trout Unlimited. "I've met more people in the last six months across the landscape than I did in probably years with my previous position," she remarked. This network-building is crucial for the success of the UBC projects, ensuring that the goals of individual stakeholders are met while advancing the overarching mission of restoring habitat for Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the Upper Blackfoot River watershed.

Historically, native Yellowstone cutthroat trout thrived in the Upper Blackfoot River. Over the years, human activity has degraded key river habitat, and fish populations declined. The UBC partnership was founded in 2012 as a voluntary stewardship project solely focused on reversing this trend. UBC’s efforts have opened 25 miles of historic spawning habitat and improved the overall health of the upper watershed.

July, 14, 2021

Partnership’s New Funding Will Boost Upper Blackfoot River Cutthroat Trout

(Soda Springs) The Upper Blackfoot Confluence (UBC) will fund three restoration projects in the headwaters of the Blackfoot River, a historical stronghold for native Yellowstone cutthroat trout. The announcement came as UBC celebrates new evidence that cutthroat trout of the Upper Blackfoot are rebounding. But this year’s drought and high temperatures put pressure on wild cutthroat survival and underscore the need to improve stream habitats to allow the fish to thrive in all conditions.

UBC Is a Growing Partnership Committed to the Upper Blackfoot

UBC is a voluntary partnership that has been made up of three mining companies, J.R. Simplot Company, Bayer US, and Nutrien, as well as two conservation groups, Trout Unlimited and the Idaho Conservation League. UBC’s members have joined forces to rebuild Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the river above Blackfoot Reservoir. Since UBC’s formation in 2011, the mining companies have worked through the partnership to provide more than $2 million for habitat projects.

This year, UBC welcomed a new member, Itafos, which operates phosphate mines and processing facilities near Soda Springs.

Tim Vedder, Conda General Manager for Itafos said: "Itafos is pleased to join the Upper Blackfoot Confluence (UBC) group. Since acquiring Conda’s phosphate operations in early 2018, Itafos has been involved in a variety of efforts benefitting both the Upper Blackfoot River and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Itafos’ affiliation with UBC is an additional positive step towards its goals of protecting the environment and wildlife native to Southeast Idaho.”

The Good News: The Cutthroat Population Is Rebounding

This spring, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) counted more than 1,800 cutthroat migrating from Blackfoot Reservoir to the headwater streams where they spawn. For the second year in a row the run far exceeded the fewer than 20 fish that were observed in 2005-2006. As recently as 2016, only 204 fish were observed making the migration.

Spawning ground surveys confirmed the good news. Last week, Trout Unlimited and IDFG found over 250 redds (fish nests) distributed among the historically important spawning tributaries in the Upper Blackfoot, including within several reaches that have undergone recent UBC-funded habitat restoration projects.

The Bad News: Low Stream Flows and Heat Will Challenge Trout

Stream flows in the Upper Blackfoot River were about one-third of normal levels for early July. These lower flows are likely accompanied by warmer than normal temperatures, which challenge trout that need cold water to survive. Conditions will be particularly hard for this year’s juvenile trout, which will emerge from their gravel bed nests in mid-summer.

River Restoration Projects Support the Fish

Warren Colyer, Trout Unlimited fish biologist and UBC member, explained: “This year will be a test for our work. Our projects build resilience for native Yellowstone cutthroat trout by providing healthy habitats and a way for fish to move within and among them. As stream flows drop and water temperatures increase, the fish become increasingly dependent on healthy habitat refuge areas where they find cool water and cover.”

For instance, the restoration work underway at IDFG’s Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area is designed to help cutthroat trout cope with challenging conditions. New riffles and streambank restoration completed in the last two years are expected to raise the water table in restored reaches. This higher water table means more cool, upwelling water in the streambed, giving trout a break from the heat. IDFG biologist Carson Watkins explained: “Ultimately, the goal is to promote landscape-level resiliency to drought and warmer temperatures by increasing the capacity of the river system to retain water and moderate water temperatures. For cutthroat trout, this will help provide the type of cool thermal refuge they need to survive and complete their life cycle in the face of stressful conditions.”

2021 Projects Build on Past Investments.

This year’s UBC-funded projects will:

• Support a third year of restoration at the Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area in partnership with the IDFG as well as several other funders,

• Upgrade a portion of the Diamond Creek Road that is subject to erosion, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and Caribou County, and

• Fund start-up costs to replace a culvert impeding fish migration at Mill Canyon.

July 20, 2021

SODA SPRINGS — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game puts on a daily fireworks show from mid-April through the end of June just for the pelicans that come to feed on cutthroat trout migrating from Blackfoot Reservoir.

The pyrotechnics are part of a longstanding hazing program intended to scatter the birds, thereby giving the Upper Blackfoot River watershed’s embattled Yellowstone cutthroat trout population a fighting chance.

The effort is funded, in part, by a collaboration involving mining companies, ranchers, Trout Unlimited and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, called the Upper Blackfoot Confluence. UBC leaders say their hazing efforts combined with investments in significant habitat improvements are starting to pay off.

After 20 years of hazing pelicans with firecrackers and other tools — the program also involves shooting up to 75 pelicans per year to scare off the pod — this was the first year in which no pelicans nested on islands within the reservoir.

UBC scientists have noticed an increasing trend of new trout hatching within key tributaries. Furthermore, more than 1,800 adult cutthroat were counted at a trap within the river near China Hat for a second consecutive year. It’s a dramatic recovery from the early 2000s, when the number of fish caught at the trap dipped to a low of 16.

Historically, pelicans nested on three islands within the reservoir, and cutthroat trout were easy pickings as they swam through a shallow reach of water known as “the Gauntlet” while migrating to spawning tributaries.

The hazing program continues, as pelicans still fly to feed at the Gauntlet, but they now nest at nearby Chesterfield Reservoir, explained Carson Watkins, regional fisheries manager with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Watkins believes the progress with the pelicans and the UBC habitat improvements have come in the nick of time, amid an extremely hot and dry season in which cutthroat will require cool and deep water with plenty of cover.

“The whole point of the work we’re doing is to try to make the system resilient to years like this where we’ve got prolonged drought and excessive heat,” Watkins said. The eventual goal is to trap at least 10,000 fish annually, Watkins said.

The UBC Formed a decade ago, the UBC partners have invested more than $2 million in habitat improvements within the Upper Blackfoot watershed. They’ve brought in another $2.3 million in matching funds from other partners, including state and federal agencies.

Phosphate mining companies that operate in the area — Bayer U.S., Nutrien, J.R. Simplot and Itafos — provide most of the funding. Itafos joined the group this year, pledging $25,000, which has increased the annual UBC budget to $275,000.

UBC facilitator Will Whelan said the funds have covered a host of projects to make the watershed cold, complex and connected. They’ve worked with irrigators to improve old irrigation diversions, adding fish ladders to restore fish passage to historic spawning tributaries. They’ve replaced road culverts that had long been barriers for spawning trout. They’ve excavated stream channels to make them narrower and deeper to lower water temperature, and they’ve restored other sections of stream to their original channels. They’ve also planted hundreds of willow trees to shade the water and provide cover for the trout.

“We’re seeing signs of progress, but that good news is balanced with the real challenges here with high temperatures and low flows,” Whelan said. “Yellowstone cutthroat trout need cool water to survive. This is going to be one of those challenging years for us.”

Trout Unlimited biologists Warren Colyer and Jim Derito oversee the projects.

Redds During a June survey, Colyer said researchers counted an impressive 250 trout redds within the Upper Blackfoot tributaries in which the UBC has made its habitat improvements. A redd is an area in which a female trout deposits eggs for fertilization by a male trout. Colyer said redd numbers in one key tributary, Sheep Creek, have risen dramatically since a restoration project was implemented there in 2014.

“It shows the fish are getting into good spawning habitat,” Colyer said.

Colyer said the tributaries also have deeper pools and much more shade from new willow trees. The researchers will be collecting temperature data throughout the summer from probes set up within the watershed.

Colyer explained the watershed is important because it involves a unique population of cutthroat trout that grow large in the reservoir and use rivers and creeks to spawn. “It’s a migratory behavior a lot of native trout populations have lost,” Colyer said.

Improving the Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area Last year, UBC cut 500 conifers from within aspen stands in the Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area.

The group placed the trees throughout the river to provide fish cover, stabilize banks, deepen pools and filter sediment. Jason Beck, a regional wildlife habitat biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and supervisor of the WMA, said another 700 conifers are set to be removed from aspen groves and placed within the river this year. They also plan to plant thousands of willows.

“I think it’s working pretty well,” Beck said. “We have more deep water and more vegetation than we normally would have this time of year even during an average year.” Another effective UBC program has been a grazing exchange with Bear Lake Grazing Co. Beck explained that about 1,000 head of the company’s cattle that normally graze along important Bear River spawning tributaries are moved each spring to graze within the upland meadows at the WMA.

The practice keeps the cattle out of the tributaries at a time when trout are laying their eggs, thereby protecting the eggs from trampling and excessive sediment.

The newest UBC member, Itafos, has operated the Conda fertilizer plant in Soda Springs since 2018, when Agrium had to divest itself of the facility under the terms of a merger. Jon Goode, manager of special projects with Itafos, said his company has been committed to protecting the environment since its inception and joining UBC represented a “natural next step from what we had already been doing.”

“They’ve done great work. It’s a unique collaboration of different folks,” Goode said. “Some of the projects in the Upper Blackfoot they’re seeing the results. They’re seeing fish where they hadn’t seen fish in a long time. To me that’s a great success.”

This article originally appeared on the Idaho State Journal

March 22, 2021

Call it a rescue operation.

Our damsels in distress are the upper Blackfoot River system, the native Yellowstone cutthroat trout and the surrounding riparian areas.

This rescue of the upper Blackfoot River system, a huge area deep in the boondocks north of Soda Springs, has been going on for more than a decade and is still not over. Several ongoing projects will ramp up again this spring and summer.

The heroes of this story are many, from conservation groups to mining companies, ranchers, and Idaho Fish and Game biologists.

Back in the 1970s and ‘80s, the Blackfoot Reservoir and the upper Blackfoot River were near-legendary as fisheries. With liberal regulations, anglers remember catching baskets full of trout daily. But by the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the liberal bag limits were taking a toll on the cutthroat population. Fish and Game ratcheted down the bag limits and fish populations started to improve. Then the pelicans began to show up in big numbers in the early 2000s. North America’s largest bird keyed in on when the fish would spawn out of the reservoir and up the river to its tributaries. They also worked over the juvenile fish rearing in the river above the reservoir.

“They have a severe impact on the survival of lake-run cutthroat both in the reservoir and when they are coming or leaving to their spawning and rearing habitat through the river corridor,” said Carson Watkins regional fisheries manager for Fish and Game.

In the early 2000s, pelicans established a summer colony on the reservoir. Their presence and success at gobbling up fish exposed another deficiency in the upper river: Degraded habitat on the tributaries.

“One of the reasons why pelicans are super effective on the upper part of the river is it has been down cut, and we’ve lost a lot of that overhead cover because of water turbulence and lack of willows,” Watkins said.

With no cover or places to hide, juvenile fish were sitting ducks for predators. Adult trout coming and going from the reservoir upstream to spawn were also being picked off. Spawning habitat in the streams feeding the river was degraded from 100 years of poor cattle grazing practices. Another contributor to trout mortality was diversion canals for irrigators sending trout on a one-way trip into a pasture.

With so many issues needing attention at once, groups stepped forward to help. The Upper Blackfoot Confluence is a group composed of representatives from Trout Unlimited, the Idaho Conservation League, and three mining companies, Simplot, Nutrien and Bayer. The Upper Blackfoot Confluence, financed by the mining companies, helped ranchers set up easy-to-operate screening systems to keep fish out of diversions and worked to rehabilitate creeks – most flowing through private land – and make them attractive again for spawning trout.

“On the upper end of Sheep Creek (a Blackfoot River tributary) we did a pretty active restoration where we brought back in a whole bunch of natural willows and revegetated the creek and built a whole bunch of riffles and pools,” said Matt Woodard, who recently retired from Trout Unlimited. “It wasn’t about a year later that we had spawning fish up in that restored section of the creek.”

Woodard said the group worked with the landowners to move cows off particular sections of the creeks during spawning season.

“That really helped out,” he said. “The results happen pretty quick.”

Fish and Game has also been using its nearby Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area to conduct an exchange with ranchers. During key spawning and fish rearing times, the management area invites neighboring rancher’s cows on its land, thus keeping them away from spawning streams during sensitive times.

“All in all I think it’s working quite well,” said Dan Keetch of Bear Lake Grazing Company who takes advantage of the Fish and Game land. “I think it’s a benefit for us as well as a benefit for them.”

Simplot Mining representative Allen Proudy hopes the example will catch on with all the landowners with tributary streams.

“It’s been very positive,” Proudy said. “(The Upper Blackfoot Confluence) has had a fair bit of success working with the ranching community. A number of them have been great partners. I expect it to continue. Folks are interested in what we’re doing.”

Watkins said cows on the land can be compatible if they get the timing right.

“The interesting thing about the Upper Blackfoot basin is that the system co-evolved with large grazing ungulates,” Watkins said. “There was bison on the landscape before cattle. The difference is when and where those bison were distributed when cutthroat were spawning and when they were rearing in different places.”

Besides doing the grazing exchange, Fish and Game is spending $1.5 million to rehabilitate the 6 miles of river along the wildlife management area with heavy reconstruction, rocks and entire trees dropped into the river. At the same time, they are pulling up conifers that are crowding out aspen groves in the uplands surrounding the river.

“(Aspens) are threatened by conifer succession which is natural and normal, but now they are so dominated by conifer that we’re losing our aspen,” said Fish and Game‘s Anna Owsiak. “Aspen is some of the most productive habitat there is to wildlife out there.”

Besides rehab work on streams and riparian areas, Fish and Game is also working to haze pelicans off key stream areas where fish pass through.

“We got really aggressive with pelicans, not managing their numbers but their predation impact,” Watkins said. “Mostly nonlethal techniques that we use to dissuade them from being in a certain place at a certain time. It involves some pyrotechnics, we call them cracker shells, noise deterrents and a lot of human presence.”

Rehabilitation efforts on the upper Blackfoot and hazing of predators seem to be paying off. Watkins said spawning cutthroat out of the reservoir hit a low of 16 fish in the mid-2000s.

“Now we’re in the neighborhood of 1,500 to 2,000 fish ascending the river again,” he said. “This year we’re going to be taking some steps that are going to get that number of adult cutthroat back up even higher.”

Keetch said he believes the dozens of landowners and cattle grazers want to see the upper Blackfoot River system renewed. His family has been tied to the area for “about a hundred years. … I believe my great grandfather and his brothers were out there renting grass clear back in the 1920s.”

“There’s a fair number of people that are cooperating and some of them like to fish,” Keetch said. “They’re hoping to be part of the success story.”

June 12, 2020

SODA SPRINGS — Regional fishery experts believe stream restoration projects done in partnership with cattle ranchers have helped make this spring one of the best on record for the Upper Blackfoot River's migrating cutthroat trout. 

For several years, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game has counted cutthroat trout making their spring migration to spawn in tributaries at the headwaters of the Blackfoot River. During a four-week period this spring, IDFG counted more than 1,300 mature trout trapped at a weir upstream of Blackfoot Reservoir, marking the second highest total since 2001. The count dipped to just 16 fish in 2005, followed by 19 fish in 2006. Both were dry years. "Because each mature female trout carries roughly 1,500 eggs, the annual migration is a major driver of fish abundance in this historic cutthroat stronghold," said Arnie Brimmer, IDFG regional fishery biologist.

Fishery experts acknowledge recent good water years have played a significant role in the trout rebound. But they also give credit to a collaboration of mining companies and conservation groups that has worked closely with Caribou County ranchers, called the Upper Blackfoot Confluence.

"This year's spawning run is great news for anglers," said Warren Colyer, with Trout Unlimited. "It is also a big boost for landowners, companies, agencies and citizen groups who have worked for years to improve fish habitat in the Upper Blackfoot."

UBC was founded in 2011 and includes representation from Bayer U.S., J.R. Simplot Co., Nutrien, Trout Unlimited and Idaho Conservation League. The mining companies have contributed more than $1.9 million toward Upper Blackfoot habitat projects, with state, federal and private sources contributing another $1.7 million in grants. 

The collaboration has implemented about 15 projects to date and plans to invest more than $220,000 on four additional projects this year. 

"I think (the recent trout count) is a first indication that the projects are helping," said Jason Beck, IDFG regional wildlife habitat biologist. "We've had other good water years that weren't this high in the counts. It's still early to see a lot of responses, but we've been doing collaborations in there for almost a decade and they're really coming to a head right now." Will Whelan, who is UBC's facilitator, said a 2018 project to restore the lower reach of a major tributary, Sheep Creek, resulted in a doubling of cutthroat nests, known as redds, during the following year. Whelan said participating ranchers, including families involved in Bear Lake Grazing Co., have also reaped benefits, such as upgraded water diversions.  Another major project, implemented last spring, entailed UBC paying for the installation of cattle fencing within IDFG's 2,500-acre Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area.  From June through early July, the Bear Lake Grazing Co. moves between 1,000 and 2,000 head of cattle from range near the tributaries to the wildlife management area. Beck explained the timeframe is cutthroat spawning season, when sediment from grazing cattle tends to bury or displace trout eggs.

"We haven't looked directly at the eggs, but we've seen a dramatic decrease in sediment in those streams," Beck said. 

Beck said the partners work to provide the ranchers access to a greater amount of forage at the wildlife management area than they would otherwise receive to incentivize participation.  Beck believes the arrangement has also resulted in ecological benefits for the wildlife management area, half of which is grazed. The other half is left untouched to retain cover for nesting birds.

Beck said cattle in the grazed portion clear away old vegetation, causing grass to come back greener later in the year. The availability of verdant vegetation in the late summer is good for both elk and birds, Beck said. 

"(The ranchers) have been really impressed with the response of the wildlife management area to their grazing," Beck said. 

Whelan said the 2020 UBC projects include a second year of moving cattle from the tributaries to the wildlife management area, restoring a channel of Chippy Creek, relocating a portion of Diamond Creek Road that frequently washes out and working with Bear Lake Grazing Co. on adding new fencing along Sheep Creek to further aid in restoration.

"This is a great place to invest, but it's going to take time," Whelan said. "It's been a patient, longterm focus by this collaborative group. After putting in this work, it's been great news to see the (trout) numbers rebound."

This story originally appeared in The Idaho State Journal

June 12, 2020

SODA SPRINGS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - The Upper Blackfoot Confluence (UBC) reports success in improving cutthroat trout habitat on the Upper Blackfoot River. UBC is a voluntary partnership composed of three mining companies and two conservation groups.  The group includes Bayer US, J.R. Simplot Company, Nutrien, Trout Unlimited, and the Idaho Conservation League. According to Idaho Department of Fish and Game Regional Fishery Biologist Arnie Brimmer, ““We counted more than 1,300 mature trout at our station so far this year. That makes 2020 the second highest Yellowstone cutthroat run recorded since 2001. Because each mature female trout carries roughly 1,500 eggs, the annual migration is a major driver of fish abundance in this historic cutthroat stronghold.” “This year’s spawning run is great news for anglers. It is also a big boost for the landowners, companies, agencies, and citizen groups who have worked for years to improve fish habitat in the Upper Blackfoot,” said Warren Colyer of Trout Unlimited and a member of the Upper Blackfoot Confluence (UBC). Roger Gibson, who represents Bayer US on the UBC, said: “Our progress in restoring the Upper Blackfoot is thanks to the dedication of landowners, agencies, and conservation organizations. We are grateful for their hard work to ensure that the Upper Blackfoot will be a place where cutthroat trout thrive and where people can work and recreate for generations to come.” According to a news release, UBC said it would provide more than $220,000 this year to projects designed to improve trout habitat and water quality. The projects include:

• Support a second year of work on a major river restoration project at the Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area in partnership with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game

• Restore a stream channel on Chippy Creek in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and Trout Unlimited

• Relocate a portion of the Diamond Creek Road that is subject to repeated washouts in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service

• Fund new fencing along Sheep Creek to aid stream restoration in partnership with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the Bear Lake Grazing Company.

UBC will also continue grants to the Highlands Cooperative Weed Management Area for weed control in the upper basin. The mining companies have provided more than $1.9 million for habitat projects since the UBC was founded in 2011.  That has been matched with another $1.7 million in grants from state, federal, and private sources.  The improvement projects are completed by agency and non-profit partners in cooperation with cooperating landowners in the upper river basin.

This article originally appeared on KIFI/KIDK

June 4, 2020

(Soda Springs) Over the last four weeks, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) recorded the highest number of migrating Yellowstone cutthroat trout in years on the Upper Blackfoot River.

Arnie Brimmer, Regional Fishery Biologist with IDFG said: “We counted more than 1,300 mature trout at our station so far this year. That makes 2020 the second highest Yellowstone cutthroat run recorded since 2001. Because each mature female trout carries roughly 1,500 eggs, the annual migration is a major driver of fish abundance in this historic cutthroat stronghold.”

“This year’s spawning run is great news for anglers. It is also a big boost for the landowners, companies, agencies, and citizen groups who have worked for years to improve fish habitat in the Upper Blackfoot,” said Warren Colyer of Trout Unlimited and a member of the Upper Blackfoot Confluence (UBC).

Roger Gibson, who represents Bayer US on the UBC, said: “Our progress in restoring the Upper Blackfoot is thanks to the dedication of landowners, agencies, and conservation organizations. We are grateful for their hard work to ensure that the Upper Blackfoot will be a place where cutthroat trout thrive and where people can work and recreate for generations to come.”

Every April, large trout begin migrating upstream to spawn in the headwater streams of the Blackfoot River after spending 2-4 years in the highly productive waters of Blackfoot Reservoir.

The UBC is a voluntary partnership composed of three mining companies, (Bayer US, J.R. Simplot Company, and Nutrien) and two conservation groups (Trout Unlimited and the Idaho Conservation League).

The UBC will provide more than $220,000 this year for projects to improve trout habitat and water quality. The 2020 projects will:

• Support a second year of work on a major river restoration project at the Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area in partnership with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game;

• Restore a stream channel on Chippy Creek in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and Trout Unlimited;

• Relocate a portion of the Diamond Creek Road that is subject to repeated washouts in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service;

• Fund new fencing along Sheep Creek to aid stream restoration in partnership with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the Bear Lake Grazing Company.

UBC will also continue grants to the Highlands Cooperative Weed Management Area for weed control in the upper basin.

Since UBC’s founding in 2011, the mining companies have worked through the partnership to provide more than $1.9 million for habitat projects in the Upper Blackfoot River. That investment has been matched with another $1.7 million in grants from state, federal and private sources. The projects are carried out by numerous agency and non-profit partners such as Trout Unlimited in cooperation with agriculture producers and landowners in the upper basin.