Government officials from all over Montana and the Pacific
Northwest were in the Blackfoot Valley Friday to hear Interior
Secretary Bruce Babbit announce the listing of the bull trout as
a threatened species. Story & photos by Suzanne Vernon For the
Pathfinder June 11, 1998 Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit
announced Friday that the bull trout is now listed as a
threatened species in Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Management of Columbia River basin and Klamath River bull trout
populations is now subject to federal rules in accordance with
the Endangered Species Act. Former chief of the Forest Service
Jack Ward Thomas, right, makes a point during a conversation
with Lolo National Forest Supervisor Chuck Wildes, left, and
Seeley Lake District Ranger Tim Love, center. The new status of
bull trout means that all projects that affect this popular yet
vulnerable fish will now be scrutizied by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. Tim Love, District Ranger for the Forest
Service at Seeley Lake, said he be