We believe in seeking win-win solutions for both wild trout and landowners. When communities find common ground it helps ensure a healthy and thriving fishery that is sustainable, both now and for future generations. Cooperation with our neighbors is key to all our work.

Chris Edgington, Project Manager, MTU

Southwest Montana holds a special place in the hearts of many anglers, both here in the Treasure State and around the world. In 2021, declining wild brown trout numbers in the Big Hole, Beaverhead, and Ruby rivers, which form the Jefferson in Twin Bridge made national news. Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks in conjunction with Montana State University responded with a multiyear study to identify the causes and potential solutions.

MTU and our partners are focused on two main areas of improvement. First, maintaining and strengthening drought management plans in the region to protect and increase instream flows. Second, identify and complete stream restoration projects that help to increase flows, lower water temperatures, and improve access for wild trout spawning, rearing, and thermal refuge.

In 2019, MTU hired Chris Edgington as our first full-time Project Manager, with a focus in the Jefferson watershed. Since that time, Chris has overseen a variety of stream restoration and water conservation efforts, within the basin and beyond.

The Jefferson River, one of the three forks of the Missouri River, is formed by the confluence of the Ruby, Beaverhead, and Big Hole Rivers near Twin Bridges in Southwest Montana. These and other rivers and streams in greater Jefferson Basin irrigate 393,000 acres of valuable cropland. There are over 500 miles of fishable mainstem rivers and thousands of miles of tributaries. Frequent drought is a defining characteristic of the Jefferson Basin, requiring innovative and collaborative solutions to maintain the ecological health and economic viability of local communities.

Our projects and programs in the Jefferson watershed focus on improving flow and water temperatures and increasing habitat to improve recruitment for wild trout.

Survey of Projects

MTU’s various conservation and restoration in partners in this watershed include Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks, Department of Natural Resource Conservation, US Forest Service, Arctic Grayling Work Group, Big Hole Watershed Committee, George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Chuck Robbins Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Ruby Valley Conservation District, Ruby Valley Strategic Alliance, Golden Sunlight Mine, numerous private landowners, and many others.

We would be happy to discuss how we can best acknowledge your contribution–through a press release, signage at a project site, or otherwise. Your gifts help MTU to improve water quantity and quality, reconnect streams, protect native species, and provide economic and educational benefits to local communities, now and for future generations.

To learn more about this ongoing project and how to support it, contact Jefferson Project Manager Chris Edgington.