As I write this post, media from across the U.S. report that tens of thousands of fish in the Yellowstone – including whitefish, rainbow trout, cutthroat trout and others are washing ashore along the river mysteriously. While initial reports from authorities suggest this may be a result of a rare, but virulent microbial parasite, Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality has begun testing water samples for anything that might cause human health concerns. Fishing, boating and all other recreational activities have been banned at the height of our state’s tourist season, and for hundreds of miles of the mainstem river and its many tributaries. Officials have signaled the rivers may be closed for months.

Coincidentally, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and others have been conducting Rotenone poisoning in the Yellowstone River’s headwaters including current intensive poisoning of Soda Butte Creek within Yellowstone National Park. The Christian Science Monitor yesterday published “Why Yellowstone officials are poisoning its rivers” sadly just repeating the tired ‘ends justify the means’ credo that has consistently driven these invasive, expensive and risky programs.

Governor Steve Bullock has announced that the drastic river closures are “a threat to Montana’s entire outdoor economy and the tens of thousands of jobs it sustains.”

Why would state and federal officials intentionally continue to clear cut the aquatic biota in the Yellowstone drainage – killing native and non-native fish, native insects, native frogs and more – while the river is closed due the mysterious die-off? Should not our resources be focused on the critical issue at hand? Might this not further risk fish health, human health and our economy?

To learn more about river killing see http://stopriverkilling.org