The
TROUT TALE
The official newsletter of the Wyoming Council of Trout Unlimited Volume 4, Issue 2
Winter 2016
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Bear Basin Adventures ready to take you to the incredible backcountry of Wyoming......Page 5
Snake Headwaters Home Rivers Initiative By BARB ALLEN Jackson Hole Chapter President
And CORY TOYE Wyoming Water & Habitat Program Director
T
he Jackson Hole Chapter and the Wyoming Water and Habitat Program of Wyoming are excited to announce the posting for a new position in the Snake River Headwaters. Few western rivers enjoy a backdrop as unique and spectacular as the upper Snake River in western Wyoming. Originating near the northern boundary of Grand Teton National Park, the upper Snake flows from the volcanically active Yellowstone Plateau through the dramatic faultblock uplift mountains of the Teton Range. The system of headwater streams and rivers that creates the Snake — eventually the largest tributary to the Columbia River — lies at the heart of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest intact functioning ecosystem in the United States outside of Alaska. Some of the most important cottonwood gallery forests in the West are found within this river corridor, and the adjacent forests are strongholds for a diverse assemblage of animals, including large predators like grizzly bears and wolves that have been extirpated from most of their historical habitats in the contiguous U.S. The river is home to several amphibian and native fish species, including a unique mix of native Yellowstone and Snake River fine spotted cutthroat trout. Undoubtedly, the Snake and its tributaries around Jackson Hole are keystones in one of the most iconic landscapes in the world. Due to the nature of the river and the fact that most of the land adjacent to it is public, the upper Snake offers a unique opportunity for anglers and other recreationists, and it enjoys many protections that are not afforded to other western streams. The Snake River Headwaters
encompass portions of the Gros Ventre and Teton Wilderness areas and Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Forty-three U.S. Forest Service roadless areas are identified in this subbasin, along with three Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Study Areas. All told, roughly 33 percent of the Snake Headwaters subbasin enjoys some type of ‘protected’ management designation. Despite those protections, however, human activities and development continue to impact hydrologic function, stream habitat and native fish populations. Forty-six miles along
five different streams in the Snake River Headwaters subbasin are listed as water quality impaired. The main stem of the Snake River is modified by a levee system that confines the channel and prevents it from accessing its historical flood plain, interrupting natural processes like groundwater recharge, riffle-pool formation, and flood attenuation. This floodplain disconnection has led to a loss of important in-stream habitats like side channels, logjams and backwaters, and it has had a negative impact on
See SNAKE HEADWATERS page 3
Kathleen “Beanie” Doffermyre of the Jackson Hole Trout Unlimited Chapter is focused on the task at hand while fly fishing the incredibly scenic Spread Creek in Teton County. COURTESY PHOTOS/Russ Schnitzer — schnitzerphoto.com