Trout Conservation in the Teanaway Watershed
Story by Kyle Wilkinson | Photos by Zahn Schultz | Design by Anthony Cole
The water is 44 degrees when the Trout Unlimited volunteers step into the headwaters of the Teanaway River on a sunny and unseasonably chilly weekday morning. The creek is barely wide enough for three people to walk side by side. There’s a slight dusting of fresh snow on the ground illuminated by the morning sun. Water laps against a pair of worn-out waders as the men walk over slippery rocks downstream.
They’re looking for PIT-tagged Westslope Cutthroat trout in a conservation effort to protect cold water fish species in today’s changing climate. PIT tagging is a method for collecting data on trout migration, according to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.
The Yakima River Headwaters Trout Unlimited Chapter has been working with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), among other government agencies and organizations, to establish population estimates and habitat rehabilitation efforts for Westslope Cutthroat trout in small streams in the Kittitas Valley.
Trout Unlimited members have spearheaded conservation efforts in the Teanaway Watershed out of concern for low numbers of fish in the system. The Teanaway Watershed is a system of small creeks and bodies of water that spill into the Teanaway River, which flows south out of the Wenatchee Mountains and drains into the Yakima River.
Understanding the Concerns
Conservation Chair Pat Hesselgesser has been working with the Yakima Headwaters Chapter for almost two years now. “When I started, the direction was already targeted at trying to figure out what the status of the Westslope Cutthroat trout up in the Teanaway Watershed was,” says Hesselgesser. His goal was to determine whether the populations declined or if they changed due to other factors aside from climate change.
The Trout Unlimited Chapter’s main fear is of losing other species of fish in the watershed.
According to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, bull trout are a wild species and are listed under the Endangered Species Act for the continental United States. The last bull trout documented in the Teanaway was in 2006, explains Hesselgesser-- that’s 13 years that a naturally producing species has been absent from its native range.
“Bull trout are like a canary in the [coal] mine,” says Hesselgesser. “They are a first indicator that there is something going on in the watershed that might not be healthy.”
Previous and Current Studies
Last year, the Headwaters Chapter initiated the Teanaway Cutthroat Slam. Anglers participated by fishing for Westslope Cutthroat trout in the Teanaway Watershed and recorded water temperature, aquatic insect life, fish caught and locations fished.
This was a step in the right direction in determining the Westslope Cutthroat trout distribution, but Trout Unlimited members wanted to add more hard data to their research.
“The [Headwaters] Chapter had interest in headwater trout populations and they have interest in initiating conservation actions for those fish,” says Gabriel Temple, a WDFW Biologist.
The WDFW has been monitoring fish populations in the Yakima Basin for several decades, collecting data on a variety of species. By looking at the data collected during the Chapter’s previous trout studies, Temple determined that none of the data collected would be beneficial in developing an accurate population.
“We want to know the status of the Westslope Cutthroat [trout] up in that watershed,” says Hesslegesser. Temple and his team were able to assist with hands-on biological sampling under existing projects for fish monitoring. The two entities kicked around some ideas on how best to monitor Westslope Cutthroat trout while involving volunteers to collect data.
“One of the objectives is to establish baseline distribution information for Westslope Cutthroat trout in the Teanaway Basin,” says Temple. “So we PIT-tagged some and released them.” Temple and his team caught and PIT-tagged 300 Cutthroat in the North Fork of the Teanaway River, Jungle Creek and Stafford Creek.
The new program with the Headwaters Chapter is participating in roaming PIT-tag surveys to locate released fish and document their movements.
Surveys began this year in early September, when water flows were at their lowest and water temperatures were near their highest. “We can basically establish a baseline under current conditions, representing the current natural distribution of Westslope Cutthroat,” says Temple. “And we can use that information [in] the future to judge whether there are shifts in distribution and if so, incorporate...water temperature or environmental variables to see if the population does in fact change in their distribution.”
The data collected will help the WDFW plug numbers into statistical scenarios. These will determine how ecosystems and fish dispersal will change 20, 30, 40 and even 50 years in the future. It may even determine if fish will be around before the end of this century, according to Hesselgesser.
A Volunteer’s Perspective
Dan Matlock, a Trout Unlimited member and volunteer with the Headwaters Chapter, has been attending most of the surveys this fall. “The Yakima’s in our backyard,” says Matlock. “Anything I can do to contribute to fish recovery and figuring out what’s going on with fish is certainly of interest...I now have time since my retirement to contribute.”
Matlock regularly coordinates groups of volunteers and directs them to various locations in the Teanaway to scan the water for Westslope Cutthroat trout. “I think getting people interested...active...involved and out in the stream will just create more interest in the project,” he says.
Volunteers that participate range from concerned local anglers, to fly fishing guides and community members. Attending scanning surveys is a social time, where people can swap stories, fishing reports and appreciate the land and water around them.
The Future
The consensus among collaborating groups is there needs to be more data collected to determine what the future has in store for the Teanaway Watershed. Monitoring the Westslope Cutthroat trout population will be an ongoing project and this year’s PIT-tag survey will only be a single step in the right direction.
“It’s gonna be an eye-opener to understand how [this conservation effort] works and maybe how we can measure and monitor it better,” says Matlock. “So I’m hopeful that’ll be the outcome of this project. It’s just learning more about not only the system and how the fish behave, but how we can understand it better moving forward.”
Referring to past fish studies conducted by the Headwater Chapter and the WDFW, Temple agrees that continued effort will help determine the outcome of Westslope Cutthroat trout. Projects conducted by various entities in the region will have a cumulative effect on the system.
“The hope is that participating in some of those habitat projects will help mitigate for climate change in the future,” says Temple. “Things that can help lower stream temperatures… such as tree planting...helping with some of the weed abatement projects, working with the Yakama Nation or Mid-Columbia Fisheries on some of their woody additions into the stream channel…[and] help[ing] check up the water table” are beneficial to finding a solution.
Hesselgesser adds that “this is one more step in collecting data. It’s not the total project. The total project is to eventually come to a conclusion about what is the status of the Westslope Cutthroat [trout]… We don’t want to lose them in the river.”
“It all starts at the headwaters,” she says. “Everything flows down from the headwaters.”
Conservation is an important part of the environment for so many different reasons. Protecting the wildlife around you can have a lasting positive effect in many other aspects of life. Going out and joining the research that it takes to protect Washington’s wildlife is a step in the right direction.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED:
For those interested in volunteering with the Yakima Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited, you can contact them by email at yrhtu090@gmail.com. You can follow them on their Facebook page and check out their website at headwatersmatter.org
THE PLAYERS:
Yakima River Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited (Headwater Chapter)
Trout Unlimited (TU)
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW)
Yakama Nation
Mid-Columbia Fisheries
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