Courtesy of Western Rivers Conservancy
Eagle Rock Ranch, Wise River, Montana
In partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, Western Rivers Conservancy has permanently conserved the 200-acre Eagle Rock Ranch and is employing a new approach to returning 11 cubic feet per second (CFS) of vitally important clean, cold water to the Wise River while protecting habitat for fish and wildlife.
The Wise is a major tributary to the Big Hole River, one of Montana’s most famous fly-fishing streams and one of the last remaining strongholds for fluvial Arctic grayling in the Lower 48. It is also a critical source of cold water for the Big Hole, supplying the primary life-giving ingredient that grayling and the river’s other fish need to survive.
WRC and the U.S. Forest Service have developed an innovative split-season approach that will deliver water for fish exactly when they need it while allowing water for agriculture when flows are strong. When the river is running high in early spring, the Forest Service will allocate water to the ranch’s meadow and its wild hay. The meadow will naturally store and filter the water through the spring and summer, allowing it to seep back into the stream colder and cleaner later in the season. In the hot summer months, when the river needs flows the most, the ranch’s water will remain in the stream to benefit the fish that depend on it. It’s a win-win-win for fish, wildlife and local livelihoods alike.
WRC purchased Eagle Rock Ranch, along with its all-important water rights, in summer 2021, then held the property while assembling the funding and partnerships needed to permanently protect it. In late July, WRC conveyed the property to the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, which will now manage the property in perpetuity for the benefit of the fish, wildlife and people of the Big Hole Valley and beyond.