Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Adopt-a-Trout seeks support in Idaho

Program allows students to track fish

---

By KATHERINE WUTZ
Express Staff Writer

Blaine County elementary school students could soon get the chance to adopt one of Idaho’s trout, if the Adopt-a-Trout program from Trout Unlimited finds enough support within the valley.

The program started in Wyoming, when that state’s branch of Trout Unlimited—an organization dedicated to preserving trout species and habitat—was told that trout raised by the organization’s Trout in the Classroom program could not be released into local lakes or rivers.

Trout Unlimited Southern Idaho Project Manager Chad Chorney said the fish had been raised from eggs to the “fry” stage by elementary school students with the intention of letting them swim free. But the Wyoming Game and Fish Department blocked the trouts’ release.

“They didn’t want the genetics to be diluted,” Chorney said.

So Trout Unlimited came up with a new program: Allow elementary school students to help trap, tag and track wild trout throughout the school year. The Adopt-A-Trout program was adopted in Wyoming and Montana, and Chorney said it’s his goal to start a program in the Wood River Valley within the next year.

Chorney said that while the children would likely not be involved in actually trapping the fish or inserting the tags, they would be able to watch the process and later track their particular fish as it makes its way through Idaho rivers and streams.

“We can name a fish Fred and find out where Fred goes over the course of a year,” Chorney said.

Tracking the fish will also help members of Trout Unlimited and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game discover what areas might not be ideal trout habitat, or if fish are getting stuck in canals or other areas. The program will also include monthly classroom visits in which students can learn about trout habitat and lifecycles.

Chorney said the goal of the program is to get kids engaged and hands-on with the environment while teaching environmental stewardship.

“There are so many distractions today, with the Internet and Facebook,” he said. “We want to get kids on the ground, to get their hands wet. When you see a kid handle his or her first trout … you can’t reproduce that.”

Chorney said that Trout Unlimited is trying to drum up support from Blaine County Schools, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Idaho Conservation League and The Nature Conservancy, and has forged a partnership with the Wood River Land Trust. He said he hopes the program will be running by October.

Kate Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com

buy viagra
comprar viagra
acheter viagra