BPA won't pay for netting

A Bonneville Power Administration official recently said BPA will not pay for a controversial gillnetting plan to remove lake trout from Flathead Lake unless the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes and the state of Montana have a co-management plan in place for the lake.

William Maslen, director of BPA’s fish and wildlife division, made the statement in response to a letter sent by Flathead Wildlife Inc., an opponent of the gillnetting plan.

Maslen said CSKT had submitted a proposal to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council that included gillnetting as part of an overall strategy to remove the nonnative fish.

But gillnetting and other major management actions are “dependent on consensus of the co-managers (state and tribes) who have shared fishery management authority,” Maslen said.

“If the co-managers agree and either party requests funds from BPA, then as part of our decision on whether or not to fund the proposal, BPA would undertake its own environmental analysis of the proposal to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal laws,” he said.

Tom McDonald, director of CSKT’s fish and wildlife division, responded to Maslen’s statement by noting that BPA currently helps pay for Mack Days, the spring and fall fishing contests which are considered the main lake trout suppression tool for Flathead Lake.

McDonald also noted that CSKT officials propose to pay for gillnetting “with our own hydropower mitigation fund from Kerr Dam,” so the gillnetting project would not depend on BPA money.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has declined to be involved in CSKT’s gillnetting proposal. FWP officials believe CSKT did not involve the public enough in its environmental review process, and that CSKT overestimated the benefits and underestimated the impacts of gillnetting in the lake.

FWP and CSKT also disagree about the co-management plan for Flathead Lake that expired in 2010. FWP wants to develop a new plan, while CSKT wants to continue implementing the expired plan, which includes a proposal for gillnetting.

FWP director Jeff Hagener wrote to CSKT chairman Joe Durglio outlining the state’s position. FWP proposes conducting joint research on the effectiveness of gillnetting while a new co-management plan is under development.