U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE

Staff attended the Swan Lake Chamber and Community Club meeting which gave us an opportunity to meet and learn from community members, as well as share our management objectives and discuss regulations on the Swan River National Wildlife Refuge and Cruz WPA.

The Swan River Refuge wetland restoration was selected by ESRI and featured as a case study on their website , link here.
Monitoring wetland restoration continues: passive conversion of vegetation and surface water changes are being documented using aerial photography; groundwater monitoring data loggers are in place from which data will be collected and batteries switched out in 2025.
Observation deck repairs were completed at the Swan River Refuge access site.

We are working to design new signage for the observation deck to highlight the wetland restoration and other current conservation priorities.

Invasive species surveys were conducted on both Swan River Refuge and Cruz WPA. Parking lots, trails, and priority areas were spot treated with appropriate herbicides.
The river access point on Porcupine Creek Road was monitored in an effort to determine how much use the site is receiving for put-ins and take-outs. These data will inform long term management plans and decisions.
USFWS law enforcement patrols and associated actions were carried out throughout the year.

JACOB HOURT, Refuge Manager
USFWS-NW Montana
(406) 885-8598, jacob_hourt@fws.gov

MISSION MOUNTAINS YOUTH CREW

*MMYC crew removing invasive water lilies from Holla Lake*

The Mission Mountains Youth Crew Program (MMYC) is a collaboration between the National Forest Foundation (NFF), the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Natural Resources Department, CSKT Tribal Education, Salish Kootenai College (SKC), the U.S. Forest Service, and Swan Valley Connections (SVC). By employing high school students from the Flathead Reservation and college students from SKC, the program aims to (1) expose students to careers in cultural and natural resource conservation, (2) teach outdoor leadership skills along with natural and cultural history, and (3) engage youth in ongoing cultural and natural resource monitoring and stewardship.

Through cross-boundary collaboration, MMYC crews accomplish these goals by participating in diverse activities on the Flathead National Forest and Tribal lands, both on and off the Flathead Reservation.

In Summer 2024, MMYC completed its fourth season, with eight crew members and two crew leads contributing over 130 hours to cultural and natural resource stewardship projects in the Swan Valley. The crew worked on a range of impactful projects, including monitoring, trail maintenance, fuels mitigation, heritage work, habitat restoration, and invasive weed removal. They also participated in aquatic macroinvertebrate surveys and other monitoring efforts. Crew members worked alongside professionals from the CSKT Natural Resources Department, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, and SVC, gaining hands-on experience in conservation fields such as botany, wildlife biology, fire management, archaeology, forestry, and invasive species management.

Building on the success of the 2024 season, the MMYC planning team is already preparing for the 2025 crew, continuing to offer valuable opportunities for youth engagement in environmental stewardship.

To learn more about the Mission Mountains Youth Crew Program, visit the program website: https://www.nationalforests.org/regional-programs/northern-rockies/mission-mountains-youth-crew-program

TAYLOR TEWKSBURY, Education Program Coordinator
Swan Valley Connections
(406) 754-3137, taylor@svconnections.org

U.S. FOREST SERVICE- SWAN LAKE RANGER DISTRICT

AQUATICS

The Swan Lake Ranger District introduced a new tool in the fight against aquatic invasive species through the installation of two waterless, boater-operated cleaning systems. The CD3 system, which stands for clean, drain, dry, and dispose, is a standalone watercraft cleaning unit offering an air blower, wet-dry vacuum, hand tools, and lights. Boaters can use the tools at the Swan Lake and Holland Lake boat launches to remove and properly dispose of water, weeds, debris, and leftover bait to aid in preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species like quagga and zebra mussels, New Zealand mud snails, curly leaf pondweed, and fragrant water lily.

Our multi-prong approach against invasive species also includes yearly monitoring of 10 lakes on the Flathead National Forest, including four in the Swan Valley. We focus our efforts on lakes that are accessible by car, and therefore vulnerable to the inadvertent spread of invasive species. We monitor for four invasive species (quagga and zebra mussels, Eurasians milfoil and curly leaf pondweed) that have the closest occurring populations but do not yet occur on the Forest, and are therefore high priority in preventing their further spread.

Our third tier of defense against invasive species includes physical removal of fragrant water lily from Holland and Lindbergh Lakes. Fragrant water lily was first discovered in Holland Lake in 2016, presumably after accidental introductions from nearby lakes. Since then, annual eradication has been taking place. FS staff and students from Mission Mountains Youth Crew and Youth Conservation Corps spent numerous days pulling the non-native plants, which can spread by seed or small fragments of roots. All water users in the Swan Valley are asked to be especially careful they do not spread the fragrant water lily or introduce other invasive species and strictly operate under the clean, drain, and dry concept.

DAPHNE KAMPINGA, Aquatics Specialist
USFS Flathead National Forest
daphne.kampinga@usda.gov

RECREATION

A new concessionaire group was able to successfully install a new bear-proof waste system at Swan Lake Campground, including bear-resistant trash cans and an electric fence, adding to the list of repairs and improvements made from last year. The district recreation staff also coordinated with the concessionaires to add picnic tables, fire rings, and bear boxes to Holland Lake, Swan Lake, and Lindbergh Lake campgrounds, as well as with the Lolo National Forest and Backcountry Horsemen of MT to install bear boxes at the Owl Packer campground.

On the trails side of things, the Swan Lake Trail Crew accomplished 500 feet of retread on the Elk Ridge/Mollman Lake Trail in the Mission Mountains Wilderness, putting the trail back on the landscape through a field, to help cut down on the creation of social trails being made in the Wilderness. They also partnered with Daughters of the Sun Backcountry Services through Swan Valley Connections in order to remove and replace a walk log on the Hemlock Lake Trail in the Mission Mountains Wilderness.

CHRIS KAMINSKY, Natural Resource Specialist
USFS Flathead National Forest
chris.kaminsky@usda.gov

FIRE AND FUELS

There were 11 fire starts this summer on the District, while our yearly average is 16. District fire personnel spent time in many areas of the country this fire season, including assignments to Kentucky, South Carolina, Florida, Minnesota, Washington, Wyoming, California, Oregon, Colorado, and Idaho. Individual firefighters averaged 50-60 days away from home and over 600 hours of overtime.

The Holland Peak Fire started in late July on the District. At the time of the incident, a suppression response was initiated, but due to steep, inaccessible terrain and a lack of safety zones for firefighters, suppression was not able to occur. A long-term plan was developed by fire managers in the event that the fire moved towards values at risk in the Swan Valley. Moderate rain and lack of available fuels in August kept this fire from any significant growth, and it only burned ¼ acre the rest of fire season.

The prescribed fire season was tempered this year due to weather windows and budgetary constraints. The Swan Lake District was able to implement broadcast burning on 40 acres in the Cold Jim Project Area. The pile burn season was busy, with over 700 acres accomplished. We still have over 1,000 acres of maintenance burning planned over the next several years and hope to provide a live public showcase of prescribed fire implementation in cooperation with Firesafe Swan spring of 2025.

ANDRE Du LAC, Fire Management Specialist
USFS Flathead National Forest
(406) 837-7547, andre.dulac@usda.gov

WILDLIFE

The Swan Lake Ranger District (SLRD) wildlife biologists have officially been here for over a year, completing their first full field season. The wildlife staff are excited to continue to support and collaborate with Swan Valley Connections on wildlife resource objectives in the Swan Valley, while becoming more familiar with one of the most unique ecosystems in North America.

In the summer of 2024, the wildlife program on the SLRD was able to complete a variety of surveys in the Swan Valley, all while operating without any seasonal technicians. This included wetland surveys that were conducted to collect data on species diversity and abundance, contributing to the Montana Natural Heritage Program. The Swan wildlife program was also able to administer an educational workday with SVC for the Mission Mountains Youth Crew. This workday was centered on practical application of trail cameras in the field for wildlife management. The data collected from these surveys is used to inform staff on habitat conditions and assess areas where habitat management objectives can focus on wildlife habitat improvements. The Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) and Flathead National Forest staff also constructed and installed three bat boxes at the Holland Lake Campground. The boxes follow the North American Bat Monitoring Program building standards and provide roosting location for bats.

The wildlife program also conducted annual loon surveys throughout the Swan Valley, in coordination with the Montana Loon Society and Montana Loon Working Group. A successful breeding pair at Peck Lake was noted as a season highlight; the lake had two chicks survive the July loon day survey, making that three successful years in a row. It appears this pair has established a nesting territory in the SLRD. To reduce disturbance and maintain a successful breeding population, floating buoy signs are deployed in several lakes, including Holland Lake, to notify the public on avoidance of these nesting areas during the breeding season. The Swan Lake wildlife staff also maintained a newly constructed loon nesting platform at Pierce Lake. A nesting attempt and interest in the platform were documented on several occasions with the new platform, but unfortunately the pair failed to produce an egg, without a second nesting attempt. For further information about the Montana Loon Society and Reporting visit the website at https://montanaloons.org/

ROY MORRIS, Wildlife Biologist
USFS Flathead National Forest
roy.morris@usda.gov

SILVICULTURE

*A two and a half year old white bark pine in the Upper Beaver Creek Area.*

During the spring tree planting season, the District and contract crews hand planted approximately 440 acres in the Swan Valley. The seedlings were primarily ponderosa pine and western larch, but western white pine were also planted where suitable. These seedlings will not only diversify the species composition in the area, but will also increase the genetic diversity in the Swan Valley. Twenty-one acres of the Beaver Creek area were suitable for whitebark pine, which were planted with white pine blister rust resistant stock from the Forest Service nursery in Coeur D Alene, Idaho.

We are excited to be moving forward with our Rumbling Owl Project and hope to hear from our collaborators, members of the state and federal wildlife agencies, and most importantly any Swan Valley locals with concerns. This is a complex project that covers a variety of forest types.

JEFF DURKIN, Silviculturist
USFS Flathead National Forest
jeff.durkin@usda.gov

TIMBER

Over the course of this year, the Swan Lake Ranger District saw a little over 400 acres of ground get harvested through a variety of treatments. These harvest activities ranged in location from the southern end of the Swan Valley and Crane Mtn., to the Dayton area just south of Blacktail Mountain Ski Area. Purchasers for our timber sales range from big mills like Stoltze, Pyramid (now closed), and Weyerhauser, to private logging operations such as Tough Go Logging and Eucher Mtn. Logging. We were able to offer multiple sales this year as Small Business Association (SBA) sales. SBA sales only allow qualifying small businesses to bid on the sale and exclude larger companies from entering the bidding pool.

We have also been busy with the Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) program, working with the DNRC to help accomplish more acres of treatment across the district. Working with the GNA program, we have many accomplishments this year ranging from GNA timber sales, to repairing a major road slump, to helping out the Bigfork Tree Improvement Area, just north of Bigfork, by removing undesirable trees from the gene pool.

Another notable happening this year was the closure of Pyramid Mtn. Lumber in Seeley Lake. Thankfully Sun Mtn. Lumber out of Deer Lodge has stepped in to handle the remaining harvest on the Pyramid purchased sales. This ensures that these projects will see completion in a timely manner. The closing of Pyramid will make things a bit more challenging in the future for the southern area of the Swan Valley, but we look forward to taking these challenges head on and working with our partners to continue proper forest management into the future.

MARC EATON, Timber Management Assistant
USFS Flathead National Forest
marc.eaton@usda.gov

SWAN LAKERS

Shortly after the new year, Swan Lakers reached out to all property owners with property on Swan Lake. Most are not Swan Lakers members, and we wanted to ensure that they were aware of the increasing threat of Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) and septic leachates to the Swan Lake we all know and love. The response was positive and, although not the purpose of the mailing, we gained a few new members as a result.

Our testing and sampling of the water in Swan Lake continues to indicate a very healthy body of water. Most notably it remains free of AIS. The testing and sampling regimen that we carry out four times a year is the most important thing we do to ensure the present and future water quality of Swan Lake. The equipment in use, and its qualified handling by board member and Flathead Bio Station Assistant Director Tom Bansak, ensure that the data is accurate and collected in accordance with professional standards. We are confident that our data cannot be discredited should we identify a decline in water quality.

This year we also participated in a Texas Tech study on the water quality effects of perchlorate from fireworks, collecting water samples in the days surrounding the Fourth of July. The results of this study have yet to be released.

Swan Lakers' boat inspections continued over the summer. We inspected 976 boats and other misc. watercraft intending to launch on Swan Lake. That's over 250 more craft than we inspected in 2023. Happily, no AIS were detected. We were thrilled to welcome a few new inspectors to our core group and hope to add even more next year. We added a third day of inspections and started our inspections earlier this season. We are hoping to continue our enhanced presence in 2025.

*Volunteers at a successful 2024 Swan River Cleanup*

Swan Lakers also does an end of season Swan River cleanup, as well as two seasonal Adopt-A-Highway cleanups in the Ferndale area. We also supply mesh bags to three heavily used points of launching along the Swan River to provide floaters with a means to contain their drink cans and other items, while enjoying time leisurely exploring the river. This has greatly cut down on the amount of trash collected at the end of the season.

CHRIS MOORE, Board President
Swan Lakers
chrisd.moore@mac.com

We’ve recently added three new board members and look forward to continuing our mission of preserving and improving the water quality and natural, cultural, and historical resources of Swan Lake and its watershed in 2025.

MONTANA DEPARTMENT of NATURAL RESOURCES & CONSERVATION- Swan Unit

*Lindbergh Lake “Chipper Days”*
Photo by Emma Merdovic

The 2024 fire season on the Swan Unit was lighter than normal in terms of initial attack responses. As it was fairly slow around here, our engines were able to get out on assignments to help other areas of the state with their firefighting load.

Fall Prescribed Burn Unit 22-14 Phase 3. The intent of this burn was to clean up slash created by logging and create sites for both natural regeneration and planting. This unit will be planted in the spring of 2025.

Our timber program laid out and put out for bid 4 timber sales, as part of the Lost Napa and Squeezer Meadow Multiple Timber Sale Projects. These timber sales offered approximately 3.5 MMBF of sawlogs to benefit the Common Schools Trust. Forest improvement work was also completed throughout the state forest, including planting roughly 40,000 seedlings and the completion of 1 broadcast burn. Several hundred acres of precommercial thinning are planned to take place within the next couple of years.

This year we hosted our first “Chipper Days” in the Swan Valley. This took place on Lindbergh Lake Road, with landowners cutting and piling their own slash and DNRC providing a chipper and trailer to remove the debris. Flathead National Forest and Swan Valley Connections also “chipped in” by providing folks to help with the labor.

The Swan Unit is a key partner in Firesafe Swan, a collaborative group with the mission of improving fire preparedness in the Swan Valley. This group is open to anyone; contact jack.white@mt.gov for more information. Look for new education opportunities in 2025 from Firesafe Swan and our partners!

JACK WHITE, Service Forester
DNRC Swan River State Forest
(406) 754-2301, jack.white@mt.gov

MONTANA FISH, WILDLIFE & PARKS- FISHERIES

The Swan Valley historically contained one of the strongest bull trout populations throughout their range. Unfortunately, non-native lake trout have caused this bull trout population to decline to all-time record low numbers of this iconic species.

Biologists monitor the number of adult bull trout by walking the spawning tributaries each fall and counting the number of redds (spawning nests) created by the migrating bull trout. The 2023 and 2024 redd count totals for the Swan Lake bull trout population were the lowest observed in a data set that spans more than 40 years. The 2024 redd count total of 150 redds, is 60% lower than the long-term average. Meanwhile, monitoring of lake trout numbers shows that the lake trout population in Swan Lake continues to increase. Lake trout densities of all age classes (determined through annual monitor netting) have tripled since 2017.

Recognizing that something needs to be done, FWP and partners from the Swan Valley Bull Trout Working Group are planning to resume lake trout removal efforts in Swan Lake as a way to benefit bull trout and kokanee salmon. A lake trout removal project was initiated from 2009-2016, and while the results did not meet predetermined success criteria, considerable information was gained from that effort and will help guide future netting activities.

This past year FWP was given approval by the Fish and Wildlife Commission to move forward with the project, and this past spring FWP released an environmental assessment detailing the plans for lake trout netting. While timing and logistics are still being fine-tuned for the summer of 2025, recreationists can expect to see a large gillnetting boat and buoys throughout the lake for several weeks. Signage describing the project will be posted at the public boat launch. Nets will typically be set in the evening and retrieved early in the morning. The nets are long, and are set only in water greater than 60’ to avoid bycatch of non-target fish species. Trolling anglers can avoid becoming caught in the nets by adjusting their downriggers to stay >10’ off the bottom. During the netting, all lake trout salvageable for consumption will be cleaned, packed on ice, and sent to local area food banks for distribution. Lake trout not suitable for consumption will be given to local raptor and wildlife rehabilitation facilities.

LEO ROSENTHAL, Fisheries Biologist
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
lrosenthal@mt.gov

SWAN VALLEY BEAR RESOURCES

Swan Valley Bear Resources (SVBR) is a collaborative working group whose mission is to provide community resources to promote coexistence between people and bears. The resources SVBR provides come in a variety of formats, such as proper storage of bear attractants, education, and consultations.

In 2024 SVBR loaned out 52 bear-resistant trash cans, one of our busiest seasons to date. This program allows community members to loan a $500 (including shipping costs) Kodiak Can from SVBR for free on an indefinite basis, or landowners may purchase a can if desired. Donations for these BRGC are suggested, and all donations are used to purchase future BRGC for the community.

*Electrifying an old barn on the historic Gordon Ranch*

SVBR built seven permanent electric fences in the 2024 bear season. Partners on these projects included the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Partners Program, USDA Wildlife Services, and Fish, Wildlife, & Parks. The range of attractants contained were chickens, compost, orchard trees, apiaries, large-scale food storage, livestock, and grain. Two temporary fences were implemented, one to contain attractants before a permanent fence could be built, and the other in response to a conflict. An additional 15 consults were conducted that did not result in a fence being installed in the 2024 season. Furthermore, SVBR connected 27 people to service providers in their region who were looking for assistance with non-lethal conflict prevention tools.

*SVBR volunteers from Bear Aware Bigfork assisting with bear spray training at our spring event at the VFW in Bigfork*

Events: Each year SVBR hosts and attends a variety of events that promote or support human-bear coexistence. In 2024 SVBR held four public events, including our annual Spring Bear Wake-Up Social, Bear Awareness and Bear Spray Training, Bear Fair, and our first ever trivia night at the A Bar in Ferndale. SVBR also tabled at several community events, including the Bigfork Monday Market, the annual Huckleberry Festival in Swan Lake, and Ciderfest hosted by the CSKT Natural Resource Department. We also gave presentations to the Bigfork Rotary Club and a Ferndale HOA community. These events began in April and ran through the month of October, reaching an estimated total of 1,000 people.

SVC also continued to coordinate the third year of its new volunteer arm of SVBR, called Bear Aware Bigfork (BAB), to focus efforts in the greater Bigfork, Ferndale, and Swan Lake areas. SVC and volunteers of BAB met monthly throughout 2024 to strategically focus efforts that will provide neighborhood education and minimize human-bear conflicts.

Additionally, the Swan Valley Bear Ranger worked to deliver educational messaging to recreationists at developed and dispersed campsites throughout the valley. The ranger educates visitors about the importance of keeping a clean camp, containing bear attractants, and USFS food storage orders, and also picks up and hauls away trash that is left behind at campsites.

JACKIE PAGANO, Conservation Associate
Swan Valley Connections
jackie@svconnections.org

THE MONTANA LAND RELIANCE

*Photo from the Stowell property by Mark Schiltz*

On behalf of Jeff and Carol Stowell, The Montana Land Reliance (MLR) is proud to announce the completion of a 158-acre conservation easement located near Condon. Situated in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, the property contains a diverse stand of conifer forest bisected by a complex riparian wetland, with over a half mile of Glacier Creek.

In addition to containing documented elk calving habitat, the property also enhances the Swan and Mission Mountain travel corridor for grizzly bear, bobcat, mountain lion, lynx, wolverine, and gray wolf. It also provides habitat and cover for pileated woodpecker, bald eagle, sandhill crane, and numerous migratory songbirds.

MLR helped purchase the conservation easement with the Shryer Fund, a geographically restricted organizational fund dedicated to protecting properties with high biodiversity. Other important funding partners include the Missoula County Open Space Bond program, the Heart of the Rockies “Keep it Connected” initiative, and the Atira Foundation.

MARK SCHILTZ, Western Land Manager
Montana Land Reliance
mark@mtlandreliance.org

The terms of the easement permanently protect an important working landscape by permitting commercial logging practices for improving forest health and promoting a fire-safe stand. The easement also protects critical wildlife habitat, as well as water quality for Glacier Creek, the Swan River, and other downstream water resources. In completing this easement, the Stowell family helps support the efforts of MLR and the other conservation organizations and agencies that have historically identified the Swan Valley as a strategic conservation focus area.

SVC- FOREST STEWARDSHIP

By the end of 2024, SVC will have completed 20 forest thinning fuels reduction projects on private land. These projects reduced hazardous forest fuels on 312 acres, improving defensible space around structures, firefighter safety, and access routes to properties, as well as forest health. SVC assisted landowners throughout the Swan Watershed with cost-share grant funds to help pay for these projects through Western States Wildland Urban Interface (WSF) and Hazardous Fuels (HZF) grant funds sub-awarded by the USFS and MT DNRC. These projects also provided work for 13 different local forest management contractors and their employees and provided wood products to local mills.

*Learning to core trees for forest ecology day at Swan Valley Elementary School. Photo by Keely Larson*

SVC hosted or helped organize 15 different wildfire and forest management related education events and programs, working with 321 participants of all ages. The programs included K-12 education programs with Swan Valley Elementary and Bigfork Elementary, a public tour of the 2023 Colt Fire, a forest insects and disease workshop for landowners, and the Montana State University Extension- Forest Stewardship Workshop.

SVC, along with the DNRC and other valued partners, initiated a Firesafe Swan workgroup, whose purpose is to provide an open forum for coordination and communication on the three priorities of the National Wildfire Strategy: 1) creating fire-adapted communities, 2) restoring and maintaining wildfire-adapted and resilient forests, and 3) implementing safe and effective wildfire response. Along with increased engagement, coordination, and communication between government agencies and community members, the Firesafe Swan efforts directly led to two on-the-ground projects being prioritized and implemented.

*Fuel break along Coyote Forest Rd by Euchre Mountain Logging*

First, some members of the Elk Flats Road neighborhood, which includes SVC, participated in the creation of a shaded fuel break along the dead-end Elk Flats Road, which will increase firefighter safety and effectiveness when a wildfire inevitably occurs. The project will serve as an excellent demonstration and tour site for other landowners to consider. Stay tuned for a 2025 tour of this project!

Second, SVC and the DNRC worked with landowners along Lindbergh Lake (also a dead-end road) to chip slash along the roadway, once again reducing fuels and creating better conditions for firefighter safety and effectiveness.

Since the inception of SVC’s Forest Stewardship program in 2003, SVC has now completed 326 fuels reduction projects with private landowners within the Swan River Watershed, treating 3,545 acres.

MIKE MAYERNIK, Stewardship Coordinator
Swan Valley Connections
mike@svconnections.org

SVC has grant funding available in 2025 for cost-share private fuels reduction projects and will help landowners to support their forest stewardship needs.

THE VITAL GROUND FOUNDATION

The Vital Ground Foundation had a very busy and successful 2024 and is looking forward to closing many projects at year end or in the beginning of the New Year. Our mission is twofold: to conserve and connect habitat for grizzly bears and other wildlife and to help communities prevent conflicts between bears and people. We work with landowners to conserve that habitat, and we provide funds for conflict prevention projects that encourage coexistence between wildlife and people.

While we did not complete any conservation projects this year in the Swan, we continued to work with landowners who we hold conservation easements with on providing support and expertise for multiple land improvement projects, including forestry improvements, wetland restoration, and fire reduction projects. We also provided funding, through our Partner Grants program, for Clearwater Valley Bear Smart to continue its conflict reduction efforts in and around Seeley Lake.

BRITTANI JOHNSON, Land Steward
The Vital Ground Foundation
(406) 802-8136, bjohnson@vitalground.org

Efforts like these are becoming increasingly important as development rapidly increases in Montana. Protecting wildlife habitat, stewarding that habitat, and educating people about coexistence with wildlife are the key to maintaining one of the last wildlife strongholds in the lower 48 states.

MONTANA FISH, WILDLIFE & PARKS-BEARS

The Southern portion of region 1, including the Swan Valley, saw an increase in human-bear conflicts from previous years and a decrease in sighting and conflict reports to the department, ultimately causing response time and efficacy of management tactics to suffer. We ask that you please report any bear sightings in urban areas, and any conflicts (such as depredation of chickens, feeding on trash, etc.) to our Bear and Lion Specialist as soon as possible, so the best course of action can be taken to ensure both bear and human safety are upheld.

Colby Anton, FWP’s Black Bear Monitoring Biologist, presented at SVBR’s Bear Fair in Ferndale this past summer about his team’s six-year research project aiming to answer questions on the state’s black bear population, density, habitat, and the effects of hunting throughout the state. SVC offered for Anton to set traps on our properties in Condon to assist with the research project, and in August a young female grizzly bear was captured, collared (as a trend monitoring bear), and released unharmed on one of our properties.

JACKIE PAGANO, Conservation Associate
Swan Valley Connections
jackie@svconnections.org

FLATHEAD LAKE BIOLOGICAL STATION

The spread of non-native rainbow trout in western Montana is a conservation concern for native westslope cutthroat trout populations. These species are closely related (both within the genus Oncorhynchus), and when present in the same waterbody, they typically interbreed/hybridize. Westslope cutthroat-rainbow trout hybridization has been well studied in the nearby North Fork Flathead River drainage, and hybrid westslope cutthroat trout produce fewer offspring than “pure” westslope cutthroat individuals there. Given concerns about the long-term viability of hybridized populations, we are increasing monitoring efforts to detect and document the invasion of rainbow trout (and their genes) in the Swan River drainage.

In August and September of 2024, teams of researchers from the University of Montana (Flathead Lake Biological Station), U.S. Forest Service, and Swan Valley Connections collected genetic samples in the Swan River drainage. Sampling efforts were focused in the lower parts of the creeks, where they meet the mainstem Swan River. In total 180 samples were collected from 12 creeks through non-lethal electrofishing. Most fish were less than 4” in length, though some approached 10”. Besides the targeted Oncorhynchus potential hybrids, we also encountered many sculpin, whitefish, non-native brook trout, and a few bull trout.

The DNA sequences from these new samples will be analyzed beginning in early 2025 along with samples previously collected in the Swan River. From the new and previously collected samples combined, we will be able to paint a detailed portrait of the invasion of rainbow trout in space and time in the Swan River drainage. Beyond just documentation, our research will help fisheries managers make decisions about how to curb the spread of non-native genes in the Swan River drainage, and will also serve as a model for monitoring invasive species in other parts of the state.

JARED GRUMMER, Research Associate
Flathead Lake Biological Station
jared.grummer@flbs.umt.edu

2024 Swan Lands Coordinating Network Updates

Open Season in Grizzly Country