BHWC Monthly Meeting: March 2024

The Big Hole Watershed Committee met at the Divide Grange Hall on Wednesday, March 20th, 2024. The meeting was also available via Zoom thanks to a partnership with Southern Montana Telephone Company, who donated WiFi for the Grange Hall in Divide, Montana. Coffee was provided by Black Coffee Roasting Company in Missoula.
The meeting included committee updates, project reports, and more. We were joined by the Upper Big Hole Arctic Grayling CCAA team, who reviewed the 2023 water year and landowner contributions, provide an update on Arctic grayling recovery status, and discussed their new ‘extreme circumstances’ flow plan strategy. The CCAA team includes representatives from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS- position currently vacant).
About the CCAA: The Upper Big Hole Arctic Grayling Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) program was started in 2009. The CCAA introduced a strategic plan for recovering the Big Hole River Arctic grayling as well as providing legal protections for landowners who enroll and participate in the CCAA. The CCAA is managed by a dedicated group of scientists that monitors river flow and temperature in the upper Big Hole and works with landowners to conserve water and habitat in accordance with site specific plans.
For more information on BHWC's monthly meetings or to view the meeting minutes, visit bhwc.org/month....