Current and Upcoming Projects
Electric Fences: Back in June, we installed miles of electric fence along the riparian areas of several of the Henrys Lake tributaries (Howard Creek, Targhee Creek, Duck Creek, and Kelly Creek). These fences protect the stream and riparian areas from habitat degradation. Throughout the summer, our IDFG Henrys Lake seasonal crew continually maintains these fences to ensure they remain “hot” while livestock are in the area. At the end of the season when cattle are moved elsewhere, we take down the fences for the winter to allow wildlife to freely move around the lake and tributaries.
Fish Screen Maintenance: IDFG manages and maintains several “fish screens” located on irrigation diversions drawing water from Henrys Lake tributaries (Howard Creek, Targhee Creek, and Duck Creek). These fish screens prevent fish from being lost from tributaries, and instead, return them to the creek where they came from via underground pipes. During the runoff season, sediment builds up in the fish screens that has to be dug out weekly to ensure proper function of the screens. This August, IDFG staff tussled with a stubborn solar-powered screen with motor and electrical issues on Howard Creek, but the problems were finally diagnosed and fixed. Cows have water, and out-migrating fingerlings can make it back into the stream now!
Lower Targhee Creek: Over the past year, IDFG and partners have been working with motivated landowners on lower Targhee Creek to assess the potential of the property for a large-scale restoration project. Targhee Creek provides incredibly valuable spawning habitat for wild YCT in Henrys Lake, as well as thermal and oxygen refuge during critical periods for fish survival. We’re very much still in the planning and pre-restoration monitoring phase of this project, but we’ve been busy gathering all the data we can (see picture of the picket weir and large hybrid below), and identifying the best ways to make this ecosystem function optimally for both fish and wildlife.
Regulatory Buoy Replacement: It’s no secret - our buoys around the fishing closures at the mouth of Hatchery Creek and Staley Springs have taken a beating over numerous years of ice sheet abuse. We’ve got a shipment of shiny new ones that have been delivered, and we’ll get those installed during ice-out 2024.
Fish Stocking: In June, we stocked 255,678 sterile hybrid trout in Henrys Lake (Figure 5). Just earlier this month (September), we stocked 1,127,143 Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout fingerlings and 64,777 triploid Brook Trout fingerlings! In an effort to bolster survival of stocked fish and strengthen tributary returns for wild fish, a small portion of the YCT fingerlings were stocked into Henrys Lake tributaries rather than the main lake. Approximately 20,000 YCT fingerlings were stocked into Targhee Creek, and approximately 10,000 YCT fingerlings were stocked into Duck Creek. In the coming years, we hope to expand tributary stocking efforts, and evaluate relative survival/growth/recruitment of fish stocked in tributaries vs. the main lake. The fish stocked in the main lake were spread out and stocked at three locations: Henrys Lake State Park, Bill Frome County Park, and the Henrys Lake Hatchery.