Muggli Fish Bypass: In the fall of 2007, Muggli led an effort to build a fish-bypass canal around the 12-Mile Dam on the Tongue River. This dam, built more than 120 years ago, has blocked fish from migrating to their tradiitional spawning areas. 

Success: Fish are now starting to use the bypass for their spring migration. In one 24-hour period in spring '08, biologists netted around 1,200 fish, including cyprinid minnow species and larger natives. They're hopeful that other species, such as sauger or shovel-nosed sturgeon will turn up later in the spring.

Lack of access to spawning habitat has led to a major decline in several warm water fish species, including pallid sturgeon. These mysterious relics of the Cretaceous period have not spawned in the lower Yellowstone River system in about 50 years and are facing extinction in the entire upper Missouri/Yellowstone system.

“If we could remove the barriers to fish at just five of these irrigation dams, we could increase fish access to spawning and rearing habitat on more than 415 channel miles of the Yellowstone and Tongue rivers,” says Burt Williams, the Conservancy’s southeast Montana program manager.

“The great thing about this project,” said the Conservancy’s Williams, “is the enthusiastic leadership of a local ag producer and irrigator to pull together these groups to solve a problem for the fish that also benefits the local irrigators. This is exactly the kind of project the Conservancy supports for the Yellowstone.”

All the current partners in the 12-Mile project have said they are willing to work together on future conservation projects in the Yellowstone system, said Williams.