Rumors about fewer DFG trout plants in Sierra exaggerated
Trout plants in the Eastern Sierra Nevada will be largely unchanged from previous years for the trout fishing opener in three weeks and throughout the rest of the fishing season. In spite of swirling rumors that the Department of Fish and Game hatchery Environmental Impact Report led to the removal of many Sierra waters from the stocking program, DFG staff is saying things should be mostly status quo for this year.

The problem is that under the newly-written EIR, forced by a lawsuit against the state agency's trout and salmon hatchery programs, waters must be evaluated and cleared before trout plants can continue if they are within the habitat range of a number of species of native fish, amphibians, and birds. The DFG's biological staff has been clearing waters almost on a daily basis, and an updated list of cleared waters is posted weekly on the agency's web site.

With the trout season opener set for April 24, many anglers noticed a number of popular Eastern Sierra trout lakes were not on the most recent "cleared for stocking" list. Convict Lake, June Lake, Gull Lake, and Silver Lake were four of the major waters not currently cleared. The Twin Lakes out of Bridgeport are also not cleared. These are major fishing lakes that are hoped to be ice-free for the opener and traditionally planted with trout, but they were not on the most recent "cleared" list posted early this week.

"I'm cautiously optimistic that everything, or nearly everything, will be cleared [for trout stocking]," said Brad Henderson, a senior environmental scientist with the DFG's Bishop office. "I fully expect us to be through this process with very little change to what we stock in this region. It's just a matter of getting the documentation done as soon as possible."

Henderson said the Eastern Sierra stocking program has far fewer species and stocking issues to consider when approving waters for trout plants than other regions of the state. The one species that has to be considered on nearly all the Eastern Sierra lakes is the willow flycatcher, and for most waters that is the only species of concern.

While there is only one know population of willow flycatchers in the region, habitat around all of the Eastern Sierra lakes are within the bird's habitat range and must be evaluated and cleared before stocking can continue. The DFG's Bishop staff has been working quickly to look at these habitat issues on all of the accessible front country waters and clearing them. The simple problem is that access has been blocked to higher elevation waters.

Henderson said that the June Lake Loop waters and Convict Lake are likely to be evaluated before opening day, and those with open water are likely to receive DFG plants. Other, higher elevation roadside waters currently not on the "cleared" list, such as the Twin Lakes in the Bridgeport Region and Mammoth Lakes will be evaluated and cleared as soon as possible.

"I'm more concerned about the weather cooperating for the trout season opener than the regulatory constraints," aid Dan Lyster, director of economic development for Mono County. "If you can get to it, it will probably be stocked."

All of the Eastern Sierra's rivers and streams have already be approved for stocking as part of the EIR itself, so only the region's lakes need further evaluation and approval. And many of the trout caught opening day from places like Crowley, Convict, June, Gull, Silver, and Bridgeport's Twin Lakes come from plants made the previous fall -- and all of those plants went in last October and November according to plan.

"The thing I want fishermen to know is that we plan to implement [the requirements of the EIR] as quickly as possible and get back to our normal stocking practices," said Henderson.

It is ironic that it is potential impacts on willow flycatchers that have to be evaluated before trout plants can continue. The only population of flycatchers in the Eastern Sierra is along lower Rush Creek between Mono Lake and Highway 395 in the lush willow corridor that follows the stream. This stream was dry until the 1980s because of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power diversions, and the area had no willow habitat or willow flycatchers. But then several high water years in a row put water back in this stream below the LADWP diversions, and trout washed downstream out of Grant Lake. The LADWP was stopped from again drying up the stream because of an obscure Fish and Game Code that made it illegal to dry up any water that held fish. It was trout fishermen who fought the LADWP to get permanent Rush Creek flows to protect the trout and led to water to grow new flycatcher habitat. So the only reason there are any willow flycatchers at all in the whole region is because of non-native trout that re-populated a stream that was once dry.

The bottom line is that trout stocking and the Eastern Sierra's splendid roadside fisheries are not going to be affected by the implementation of the Department of Fish and Game's hatchery environmental document. While it might take until mid-summer before all of the highest elevation waters get back on line with plants, no one will be able to notice a difference for this trout opener -- and probably not at all this trout season.

The following waters have been evaluated by DFG and approved for stocking:
o Bridgeport Reservoir
o Buckeye Creek
o Convict Creek
o Crowley Lake
o Deadman Creek
o Glass Creek
o Grant Lake
o Junction Reservoir
o Lee Vining Creek
o Lee Vining Creek South Fork
o Little Walker River
o Lost Cannon Creek
o Lundy Lake
o Mammoth Creek
o McGee Creek
o Mill Creek
o Owens River, Section 3
o Robinson Creek
o Rock Creek, Section 1
o Rock Creek, Section 2
o Rush Creek
o Saddlebag Creek
o Sherwin Creek
o Swauger Creek
o Topaz Lake
o Virginia Creek
o West Walker River, Section 2
o West Walker River, Section 3