Upper Missouri Waterkeeper

Outfitters, conservationists and citizens have been sounding the alarm about rapidly declining trout numbers in southwest Montana’s Upper Missouri Headwaters for years. But demands for the state to dedicate more resources to studying the problem largely fell on deaf ears.

In 2016 Montana became one of the first states to adopt numeric standards for certain river systems. Now, under a law passed during the last legislative session, it’s become the first to repeal them.

The groups want the utility company to pay for an ecological assessment on the Madison River, including an inventory of the brown trout population.

Where there are stressed fish, there are stressed fishing guides. As Montana and much of the west feel the effects of persistent drought, those with a line in the future of the state’s fisheries are navigating high temperatures, low flow and closures across the state.