Christine Brissette, Bitterroot Projects Manager, Trout Unlimited, will give us a project update on the Bitterroot. The May 15 meeting will be held at the Teller Wildlife Refuge and will feature a BBQ.

This the final program for the before summer. Come enjoy some beer and brats!

For additional information, please contact Marshall Bloom or Dave Ward.

The April 17 BRTU meeting might be our most fun program of the year. Scot Bealer and Lea Frye are coming over from Helena for “Telling Fish Stories With a Camera."

Scot will offer a lighthearted look at the evolution of fish stories combined with the stunning photography of wildlife (and fish) photographer Lea Frye. Their award book “Most Trout Don’t Read” is full of stories and additional information geared towards people who are still in the “learning” phase of fly fishing, which of course for some of us never really ends. The book received a Silver Award from the Nonfiction Writers’ Association. 

Thanks to Chapter One Book Store, you can pick up a copy of the book at the meeting and have it signed.

In the late 80’s, Dave Whitlock invited Scot to work at the L.L. Bean Flyfishing School, so he sensibly dropped out of grad school and moved to Maine. Scot says he simply switched from graduate school for wildlife to graduate school for fly fishing. Since then he has worked as a guide, a teacher, some “real” business jobs, and eventually he started writing. Currently, in addition to helping his wife Lea Frye with her wildlife photography, he also teaches kids about fish biology and fishing as part of the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks' “Hooked on Fishing” program. This is a program that BRTU is exploring for our valley schools.

Lea Frye is a full time wildlife photographer of amazing abilities. Her photography has appeared in multiple issues of Montana Outdoors, including the current issue in the article about Montana Owls. Her work has also appeared in: Big Sky Journal, Treasure State Lifestyles, Signature Montana, Colorado Life, Country Magazine, and many other publications. Her fine art prints are currently on exhibit at the Bigfork Arts and Cultural Center, The Choteau Arts Studio and Gallery, as well as at the Rockstar BBQ restaurant and Hub Coffee in Helena. Her animal photo greeting cards can be found in gift shops across the state.

The program starts at 7:00, but come down about 6:00 for personality adjustment, featuring the Elks Club legendary brats cooked in beer. By special arrangement, a brat and a brew are only $10.00.

The meeting is open to the public and there is no charge for admission. to get more information, please contact Dave Ward or Marshall Bloom.

The March 20 BRTU meeting will feature Teller Wildlife Refuge's new program Conservation in the Classroom: Inspiring the Next Generation of Stewards.

The program will start at 7:00 PM on Thursday, March 20 at the Hamilton Elks Club at 203 State Street in Hamilton.

Nicole Ballard, Conservation Education Director, and Dan Bailey, Executive Director of Teller Wildlife Refuge, will share insights on Conservation in the Classroom—an initiative bringing hands-on conservation education to students in the Bitterroot Valley.

The program was developed by Teller Wildlife Refuge, as a partnership with several other groups and will connect youth with local ecosystems, wildlife, and conservation principles through meaningful, interactive experiences. The ultimate aim is to shape future conservationists, foster collaboration, and expand outdoor learning opportunities. Nicole will also describe how TU members can help with this important work.

The program starts at 7:00, but come down about 6:00 for personality adjustment, featuring the Elks Club legendary brats cooked in beer. By special arrangement, a brat and a brew are only $10.00.

The meeting is open to the public and there is no charge for admission. to get more information, please contact Dave Ward or Marshall Bloom.

This year will mark the 29th year that BRTU has sponsored the Bitterroot Buggers. From very modest beginnings, the program now boasts a partner ship with Hamilton Middle School, a series of 7 sessions with instruction on flytying, trout identification, etymology, and flycasting, all topped off with a Bugger's Fishing day.

The participants are boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 14.

For 2025, the class dates are

• March 4 - Orientation

• March 11 - Fly #1

• March 18 - Fly #2

• March 25 - no class (spring break)

• April 1 - Fly #3

• April 8 - Fly #4

• April 15 - Fly #5

• April 22 - Fly casting clinic

Classes are held at the Hamilton Middle School. Teacher Joe Byrne and former BRTU President Greg Chester serve as coordinators, and certified instructor Steve Davis teaches casting.

One constant has been the need for volunteers to help out with the tying. This year is no different, so we are hoping that newsletter readers will plan on coming down to help. You needn't be a fly tier to help out.

More details will be provided in coming newsletters, but if you would like to learn more, please contact Greg or Joe.

The February BRTU Meeting of 2025 will be this Thursday, February 20 at the Hamilton Elks Club at 203 State St in Hamilton.

The new program will feature Montana Trout Unlimited Outreach Coordinator Bill Pfeiffer. Bill is well known to BRTU members for his wonderful kid's camps and help on Buggers Fishing Day.

Bill's presentation will review the current legislature and highlight the issue of exempt wells. The latter has exceptional relevance to the Bitterroot Valley due to the implications on water availability and the security of domestic wells.

The photo of the 2 little girls can help explain the exempt well issue. Imagine you just bought the girls a milkshake which they are enjoying. Then a bully comes up, sticks his straw in the glass and starts drinking. "Wait a minute," you say. "I just bought that milkshake fair and square. You can't start drinking from it. We will run out of milkshake." "Sorry," the bully says. "The state says I can stick my straw in your milkshake and drink as much of it as I want. You can't do anything to stop me."

So, consider you and your neighbors are the little girls and the milkshake is the groundwater you rely on for your well. The bully? Take a guess.

Importantly, we will still be awarding the 2024 Earl and Joan Little Youth Education Award to Hamilton High School science teacher Vanessa Haflich.

The program will start at 7:00 PM, but come join us starting at about 5:45 for a 'brat and a brew, featuring the Elks Club's famous beer cooked bratwurst for just $10!

There is no charge for admission and the public is invited to attend. Remember the BRTU Logo PFDs will be on sale at the meeting.

For additional information, please contact Dave Ward or Marshall Bloom.

Join us for the last meeting until October! Dan Bailey, Executive Director for Teller Wildlife Refuge has been kind enough to provide a great presentation and discussion.

PLEASE NOTE: Meeting place was scheduled to take place at the Slack Barn on the refuge.

BBQ starts at 5:45. The Presentation will take place at 7pm.

Anna Packham-Stevenson, Director, Water Resources Division, DNRC

Please Join us at the Elks Lodge in Hamilton and welcome Anna Packham-Stevenson (Director, Water Resources Division, DNRC). Anna is presenting an overview of water resources and water rights pertaining to the Bitterroot River drainage.

Doors open at 5:45. Come enjoy brats and brews!

Presentation will begin at 7pm

The Bitterroot River is likely the most dynamic stream in the state. Every year channels migrate, banks erode, trees fall into the water, logjams form, gravel bars appear and new runs become apparent. These features are what make the river such a terrific and scenic fishery, but they also introduce hazards for floaters and headaches for irrigators and landowners.

In our valley, the management of issues like this primarily falls to the Bitterroot Conservation District, which is charged with administering Montana's Natural Streambed and Land Preservation Act of 1975, also known as the 310 Law for the permits that are issued by the Conservation District. These are the permits that an irrigator is supposed to obtain before moving gravel around with a bulldozer, that a land owner is supposed to obtain before riprapping a bank, and a citizen is supposed to obtain before cutting out a logjam. In addition to the Conservation District, MFWP, DNRC, and the County Floodplain administrator play a role in the evaluation of projects and issuing of permits.

In order to clarify roles and responsibilities of stream management, BRTU is partnering with the Bitterroot Conservation District, MFWP, DNRC and the Bitterroot River Commissioner to host a free panel discussion on Thursday, May 25 at 7:00 PM at the Hamilton Elks Club.

There will be several panelists on hand to explain their role.

• Bitterroot Conservation District Supervisor Kent Myers will discuss the laws regulating activities in the streambed and floodplain. Kent will also describe the Woody Debris Task Force that was formed to address stream issues that impede floating, like logjams, and explain the proper and legal way to deal with downed trees.

• River Commissioner JR Iman and DNRC Engineer Larry Schock will preview the Painted Rocks water status and probable water release schedules. They will also describe the much needed repairs to the dam outlet works and the process for getting that done. It will take a lot of bake sales!

• Ben Dickinson, our new MFWP Region 2 Recreation Manager, will talk about boating safety and recreation issues.

• BRTU President Dave Ward who will present some possible novel solutions for hazard notification that our chapter is working on.

This will be an extremely interesting and important meeting. Guides and outfitters are particularly encouraged to attend.

BRTU will be providing free brats to the first 30 attendees. For additional information, please contact BRTU Chapter President Dave Ward.

If there is an event promoting conservation and outdoor education for kids in the Bitterroot Valley, you can bet that BRTU will be there!

And the Montana Matters Youth Experience on May 6 will be no exception! BRTU has been participating in these expos for at least 1/2 dozen years.

Tom Powers has been the driving force behind the Expo since the first one in 2013.

The Expos have been extremely successful and the number of attendees has skyrocketed over the years. This demonstrates that the youth of today is extremely interest in conservation and outdoor activities of all sorts, including flyfishing. And the number of groups and agencies responding to this interest has also greatly expanded. In fact, there are so many participating groups this year that the organizers have moved the event to the Ravalli County Fairgrounds.

There was an excellent article about the May 6 Expo in today's paper. Among the attractions for 2023 are a climbing wall, bear awareness info, BB gun and archery ranges, and a demonstration by the celebrated US Forest Service Ninemile pack string. If you've never seen that pack string, it is really something.

BRTU will have a booth and will be offering flycasting instruction using our yarn rods. Greg Chester is leading this effort and he is looking for a few more volunteers to help us out. If you can help, let Greg know.

The event is free and will be open Saturday, May 6 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Access to and parking for the event is via the Ravalli County Fairgrounds entrance at 100 Old Corvallis Road.

One of the features this year for kids 7 - 17 will be opportunities for scholarships at several summer camps, including the Trout Unlimited camp.

If you would like additional information, please contact BRTU Chapter President Dave Ward or Greg Chester.

Please note that Montana Matters Youth Expo is completely distinct from the youth event scheduled at Teller Wildlife Refuge later in May. I will feature that in a later newsletter.

Please join us for beer and grilled bratwurst at the Hamilton Elks Club

Starting at 6 PM with the presentation at 7 PM Door Prizes including a Monte

Dolack print will be given away.

Presentation Description: Nicole Ballard, Teller Wildlife Refuge Education Program

Director, will give a presentation about Nurturing Nature in the Bitterroot Valley

through conservation education. Nicole recently received the Emerging

Conservationist award from the Missoula Conservation Roundtable for emerging

leadership in the field of natural resource management or environmental

protection through individual action and effective partnerships. In the last year,

Nicole has grown the conservation education program at Teller by almost 300%.

Join Nicole to learn about Teller’s program and the importance of conservation

education in our community

For the second year in a row Montana TU's Education Director Bill Pfeiffer will be the instructor at a BRTU Sponsored fly-fishing day camp for boys and girls between 10 and 15 years old. Bill is a very experienced teacher and the response at last year's camp was very positive.

This year the camp will be held on Saturday, June 11 at the Hieronymus Park pond in Hamilton. Incidentally, this is the pond where the Trout in the Classroom trout were released last month.

The class will cover what trout eat, stream entomology, fly selection, fly casting and finish off with some fishing. Participants may bring their own flyrods, but there will be rods available for those that don't have a rod.

The class is limited to 10 students between the ages of 10 and 15, so people are encouraged to sign up soon! Permission from a parent or guardian will be required.

The cost is a recommended $20 donation. Lunch will be provided and there will be a few prizes.

Please contact Charlie Harris (434-962-6065) or Dave Ward (406-241-3903) to sign up, if you have questions or to volunteer.

If you are an angler, guide or recreational floater who benefits from the water, you can express your appreciation by helping at the annual dam clean up day on Wednesday, April 27. The PRWUA, in concert with MT DNRC, Trapper Creek Job Corps Center, and MT FWP, will be conducting the annual Painted Rocks Dam Clean Up Day and BBQ on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The purpose of the work is to remove and burn the large amount of woody debris that washes up and is deposited annually on the dam spillway and face.

Volunteers are needed to assist with picking up and piling, or depositing into bucket loaders, limbs and sawn sections of logs so they can be transported to designated burn areas. Following the cleanup work, PRWUA and MT FWP will once again provide a BBQ lunch at the Rombo Campground, with hamburgers, hot dogs and all the trimmings for all volunteers.

Meet on the dam road at 9 a.m. (parking available at the boat ramp access site just past the dam). Wear good boots with ankle support, gloves, and have warm and dry clothing in case of wind, rain or snow. Volunteers will be climbing up and down on the exposed rip-rap dam face. Weather and wind coming off of the reservoir can be challenging at times. Heavy equipment will be used, along with chainsaws and cables to cut and pull log sections up onto the road for transport.

Contact Roger Raynal at (406) 369-1730 by April 15th to confirm participation so a “head count” can be made in order to purchase sufficient food and supplies for lunch.

The April 21 meeting on Zoom will feature Montana TU's Jefferson Watershed Project Manager Chris Edgington. Chris will highlight MTU's efforts in the watershed over the last several years. Chris will give an update on the fisheries trends, completed and upcoming MTU projects, and his role in the drought management plan. He will also discuss a major road relocation and stream restoration on the Middle Fork of the Judith River.

These Jefferson River projects were started almost 20 years ago at the time of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial. MTU recognized that the river named for President Thomas Jefferson was having serious problems and felt it was time to devote effort to that stream. Chris's program will be an update on those projects.

A number of Montana rivers were named by the Corps of Discovery, including the Marias, Jefferson, Judith, Madison, Gallatin and Clark's Fork. The Judith River was named on May 20, 1805 by William Clark for his cousin and future bride Julia Hancock. The Marias River was named by Meriwether Lewis that same summer for his cousin Maria Wood. Of course, these streams -as well as all the other waterways in North America - had been named centuries before by the Native Americans.

The meeting will be on Zoom and this is the link to register. Once you register, you will receive the link and will receive an reminder a day or so before the meeting. Note the Zoom will be active at 6:30, but the meeting won't start until 7:00.

“My approach to fishing dry flies”

The public is invited to attend all Bitterroot TU meetings. Meetings are the third Thursday evening of the month, at 7:00 pm at the Hamilton Elks Lodge, located at 203 State Street in Hamilton. We will be having dinner with our speaker at the Spice of Life at 5:00. Please join us. Long-time BRTU supporter Karen Suennen will be donating 10% of the proceeds from our meals to BRTU.