BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Wildlife officials plan to poison the fish in a southwestern Montana creek and two lakes and then restock the water bodies with a native species of trout.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks plans to use the pesticide rotenone beginning Aug. 10 to kill fish in the North Fork of Spanish Creek and Chiquita and Big Brother lakes. The area is about 25 miles southwest of Bozeman.
Officials want to remove non-native rainbow trout, brook trout and Yellowstone cutthroat trout.
They would then restore populations of westslope cutthroat trout, a native species that’s suffered from habitat destruction and interbreeding with rainbow trout.
Officials say the pesticide breaks down quickly, but cautioned that people should avoid consuming water from the area.
The work is expected to last until late August.