Nature Conservancy Asks State To Determine Source of Mercury

High mercury levels in Silver Creek lead to health advisory

PICABO, IDAHO — February 15, 2008— The Nature Conservancy has sent a letter to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) asking to evaluate the potential sources of high mercury levels found in Silver Creek, and urging the department to take action to protect southern Idaho’s waters.

The request follows research findings released by the U.S. Geological Survey in November, indicating that that brown trout in Silver Creek contained elevated mercury levels. Some fish tested contained mercury levels four times higher than the amount considered safe for consumption by pregnant women and children.

The Department of Environmental Quality recently issued a health advisory for Silver Creek, located near Picabo south of Hailey, including recommendations for limited fish consumption from the creek. (See below for DEQ’s recommendations).

While Silver Creek Preserve, owned by The Nature Conservancy since 1976, is a strictly catch-and-release fishery, the creek downstream of the preserve allows harvesting brown trout.

While there is no definitive source of the mercury, the Conservancy in its letter stated that the mercury source was likely from atmospheric deposition from outside the watershed. The Conservancy pledged to continue monitoring the creek and its tributaries to evaluate possible in-stream sources.

The Nature Conservancy has invested heavily in conservation at Silver Creek, considered one of the finest trout streams in the country. In addition to the preserve, the Conservancy has worked with 22 landowners to protect land along the creek through conservation easements. Thousands of anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts from Idaho, all 50 states, Europe and Asia visit the preserve each year.

“The Nature Conservancy has worked with so many people to protect and preserve Silver Creek,” says Dayna Gross, Silver Creek Preserve manager. “It is important for us to protect our investment. We have asked DEQ to identify possible sources of mercury and to inform us and the public.”

The DEQ will work with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to post the advisory at Silver Creek access points. The Conservancy has pledged to help the agency gather additional data.

“I want my own infant son to be able to enjoy clean water and healthy streams,” says Gross. “The advisories on Silver Creek and other southern Idaho rivers and reservoirs are a concern. But for the past thirty years, The Nature Conservancy has worked with individuals, communities and agencies to face numerous conservation challenges to Silver Creek. I am confident that we can work together for clean water in southern Idaho.”

DEQ’S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FISH CONSUMPTION FROM SILVER CREEK

1. Children (6 years old or younger) should not eat more than two 2.25-oz meals per month of brown trout from Silver Creek.

2. Pregnant women, including women planning to become pregnant, and nursing mothers, should not eat more than two 6-oz meals per month of brown trout from Silver Creek.

3. The general public should not eat more than seven 6-oz meals per month of brown trout from Silver Creek.

4. People should not eat other fish, including store-bought fish, in the same month if they eat up to the recommended limit of brown trout from Silver Creek, since all fish contain various levels mercury. To find the level of mercury in common commercially available fish, please check the national fish advisory.

5. People should eat smaller, younger fish. Typically, the bigger or older the fish, the higher the mercury concentration in the fish fillet.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.