Federal Judge Blocks Trout Poisoning Plan in Absaroka Wilderness

In a significant victory for wilderness advocates, a federal judge has halted a proposal by Montana wildlife officials to poison a remote creek in the Absaroka Mountains as part of a trout introduction project. U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy ruled that the plan, which involved applying the toxin rotenone across a 46-mile stretch of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, ran counter to the Wilderness Act's directive to preserve the area's natural character.

The plan was part of an initiative by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to establish a "secure population of nonhybridized Yellowstone cutthroat trout" in Buffalo Creek. The agency cited climate change as a driving factor, noting that warming streamflows were "constricting the amount of habitat suitable for Yellowstone cutthroat trout within their historic range." However, the Missoula-based group Wilderness Watch argued that the Yellowstone cutthroat trout were not native to the area and that the proposal would have left a heavy human imprint on the remote wilderness.

In his 20-page ruling, Judge Molloy agreed with the wilderness advocates, writing that the project "diminishes wilderness character on almost every level" and is therefore inconsistent with the Wilderness Act. The decision represents a significant setback for the state's efforts to adapt to the ecological impacts of climate change within protected wilderness areas.