Changing times
20/08/16 02:29
The weather gave us a pleasant break yesterday. There had been a nice, soaking rain overnight and temperatures were much lower: highs were in the sixties instead of the nineties. We took our Australian friends to the airport and prepared to head west. There were some things to do to pick up after the intensity of hosting eight guests while traveling. We’re down to just the two of us for two days driving to our son’s home in Olympia, Washington.
The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department took the unprecedented step of closing all activities on the Yellowstone River and its tributaries from Yellowstone Park to the Highway 212 Bridge at Laurel. The ban includes all of the tributaries in the affected area, which includes the Boulder River where we are staying. The ban includes all wading, tubing, boating, fishing, floating and the like. In the past week the department has documented over 2,000 dead Mountain Whitefish in the Yellowstone. The state laboratory has determined that the cause is a kidney disease that will also affect trout. The ban on all river activity is an attempt to stop the spread of the disease. Activities will be allowed to resume when temperatures decrease and stream flows increase to allow the health of the fish to improve.
The ban has very little affect on us. We were out of the river yesterday anyway and we leave this morning to head west. There will be a couple of additional boat inspection stations on our way, but the boats we had in the river here will stay here for our return and the canoe and kayak that we are taking west haven’t been in the water since Sheridan Lake and were cleaned and dried in preparation for the trip.
It will have a big impact on the community, however. The guests who came into the cabins last night were planning on fishing and now will have to travel 65 miles down stream to get to a place where fishing is allowed. Fishing, drift boating, guiding, rafting and related services are a big part of the tourist economy in the little town where I grew up. The interesting thing to me is that we had a lot more fish and a lot better fishing when I was a child and we had a lot fewer fishermen in the area. The economy was almost all ranch-related when I lived here. Now the ranches have become second homes and recreational properties for people who live elsewhere and the economy of the community has shifted to one of services that cater to those who come here to recreate and play. I can’t complain. That’s the reason we are here this week as well. It is a beautiful place to visit.
It is hard to know, for sure, how much human activity is the cause of these problems. It does seem that there is more irrigation upstream, keeping entire ranches irrigated when in the old days the flood systems used brought water only to the fields closest to the river. There also is a lot more fishing pressure on the river, which presumably puts increased stress on the fish population. Even in areas where the practice is predominantly catch and release, the fish have health issues related to the fishing. And the cycles of weather are shifting. Global climate change is due, in part, to human activity and the long, hot and dry summer may not be a specific result of global warming, but it may be one of the effects of the increased use of fossil fuels.
Last night, with the river running lower, and therefore quieter, I was much more aware than usual of all of the trains going across the bridge a mile downstream from our place. There is a nearly constant stream of railroad traffic these days. Most of it is Wyoming coal headed to the west coast to be loaded onto ships bound for China to fuel that nation’s increasing demand for electricity. The coal cars are now covered, which reduces the amount of coal dust along the tracks, but there are still huge impacts from this business. I’ve been told that it takes more energy to transport the coal half the way around the world than the energy the coal can produce once it arrives. That means that the cost in terms of fuel consumed is double the yield in electricity. And the carbon pollution from all of those diesel-electric trains combines with the pollution from the huge ocean-going transport ships, driven by diesel engines.
There is no doubt that the world is changing and that part of the change is caused by the pressures of human activities and increased human population on the planet.
These are things about which we never concerned ourselves when we were younger. When I was a boy fishing daily on the river and enjoying weekly fish fries with my family, I wasn’t able to imagine a day when the fish wouldn’t be plentiful on the river. We used to catch our limit of trout three or four days a week and there was no limit on whitefish in those days. We’d clean and freeze the whitefish for winter fish bakes. Sometimes we’d smoke them, which is one of the best ways to eat whitefish. The smoked fish made great snacks and treats for packed lunches. I never paid much attention to the temperature when I was a kid. Some days were warm enough to play in the river all day long, others weren’t. We varied our activities depending on the temperature. Warm, cold, rain or shine we had a few chores that had to be done, but those were soon finishes and we were out on our adventures, trying not to think of September, which brought the end of summer and the return to school.
I’m older now and my carbon footprint isn’t exactly tiny as I travel in a diesel pickup pulling a camper across the mountains to Washington. I’ll do my best to comply with all of the regulations about water use to help protect the fish.
Still, there is a bit of me that is sad and grieving the passing of the way things were. I don’t have solutions, but I’ll be paying attention to the people who are seeking them.
The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department took the unprecedented step of closing all activities on the Yellowstone River and its tributaries from Yellowstone Park to the Highway 212 Bridge at Laurel. The ban includes all of the tributaries in the affected area, which includes the Boulder River where we are staying. The ban includes all wading, tubing, boating, fishing, floating and the like. In the past week the department has documented over 2,000 dead Mountain Whitefish in the Yellowstone. The state laboratory has determined that the cause is a kidney disease that will also affect trout. The ban on all river activity is an attempt to stop the spread of the disease. Activities will be allowed to resume when temperatures decrease and stream flows increase to allow the health of the fish to improve.
The ban has very little affect on us. We were out of the river yesterday anyway and we leave this morning to head west. There will be a couple of additional boat inspection stations on our way, but the boats we had in the river here will stay here for our return and the canoe and kayak that we are taking west haven’t been in the water since Sheridan Lake and were cleaned and dried in preparation for the trip.
It will have a big impact on the community, however. The guests who came into the cabins last night were planning on fishing and now will have to travel 65 miles down stream to get to a place where fishing is allowed. Fishing, drift boating, guiding, rafting and related services are a big part of the tourist economy in the little town where I grew up. The interesting thing to me is that we had a lot more fish and a lot better fishing when I was a child and we had a lot fewer fishermen in the area. The economy was almost all ranch-related when I lived here. Now the ranches have become second homes and recreational properties for people who live elsewhere and the economy of the community has shifted to one of services that cater to those who come here to recreate and play. I can’t complain. That’s the reason we are here this week as well. It is a beautiful place to visit.
It is hard to know, for sure, how much human activity is the cause of these problems. It does seem that there is more irrigation upstream, keeping entire ranches irrigated when in the old days the flood systems used brought water only to the fields closest to the river. There also is a lot more fishing pressure on the river, which presumably puts increased stress on the fish population. Even in areas where the practice is predominantly catch and release, the fish have health issues related to the fishing. And the cycles of weather are shifting. Global climate change is due, in part, to human activity and the long, hot and dry summer may not be a specific result of global warming, but it may be one of the effects of the increased use of fossil fuels.
Last night, with the river running lower, and therefore quieter, I was much more aware than usual of all of the trains going across the bridge a mile downstream from our place. There is a nearly constant stream of railroad traffic these days. Most of it is Wyoming coal headed to the west coast to be loaded onto ships bound for China to fuel that nation’s increasing demand for electricity. The coal cars are now covered, which reduces the amount of coal dust along the tracks, but there are still huge impacts from this business. I’ve been told that it takes more energy to transport the coal half the way around the world than the energy the coal can produce once it arrives. That means that the cost in terms of fuel consumed is double the yield in electricity. And the carbon pollution from all of those diesel-electric trains combines with the pollution from the huge ocean-going transport ships, driven by diesel engines.
There is no doubt that the world is changing and that part of the change is caused by the pressures of human activities and increased human population on the planet.
These are things about which we never concerned ourselves when we were younger. When I was a boy fishing daily on the river and enjoying weekly fish fries with my family, I wasn’t able to imagine a day when the fish wouldn’t be plentiful on the river. We used to catch our limit of trout three or four days a week and there was no limit on whitefish in those days. We’d clean and freeze the whitefish for winter fish bakes. Sometimes we’d smoke them, which is one of the best ways to eat whitefish. The smoked fish made great snacks and treats for packed lunches. I never paid much attention to the temperature when I was a kid. Some days were warm enough to play in the river all day long, others weren’t. We varied our activities depending on the temperature. Warm, cold, rain or shine we had a few chores that had to be done, but those were soon finishes and we were out on our adventures, trying not to think of September, which brought the end of summer and the return to school.
I’m older now and my carbon footprint isn’t exactly tiny as I travel in a diesel pickup pulling a camper across the mountains to Washington. I’ll do my best to comply with all of the regulations about water use to help protect the fish.
Still, there is a bit of me that is sad and grieving the passing of the way things were. I don’t have solutions, but I’ll be paying attention to the people who are seeking them.