Outcome on fish stocking in Alpine lakes?

As it stands right now fish cannot be stocked in the North Cascades National Park. A bill to allow fish stocking in the park passed the house and is currently in committee in the Senate (H.R. 2430). A committee hearing was held last July, but so far nothing else has happened.

The controversy is only in NCNP. Stocking is still allowed in National Forests. Fish were stocked on all federal lands until the mid-seventies. At that time that National Park Service decided fish should not be stocked unless it was to help with recovery of an endangered species. So fish have not been stocked in Olympic or Mt Rainier NPs since that time. But NCNP was different because it had been created in 1969 and during the hearings to create the park they specifically promised that fish stocking would continue. So fish continued to be stocked, though the Park Service didn’t like it. Then in the eighties the contentious issue came to a head when NCNP decided to ban fish stocking and WDFW threatened to air plant a bunch of lakes anyway. They ended up signing a series of memorandums of understanding to allow continued limited fish stocking in a subset of lakes that had been historically stocked. In the meantime they were sued by the North Cascades Conservation Council and as part of their settlement agreed to study the effects of stock fish in park high lakes. That study took over a decade and ended up determining that fish stocked or reproducing in high densities can surpress or eliminate populations of long-toed salamander and alter zooplankton populations (basically, the larger species get grazed off). But they also found that trout stocked in low densities had no measurable effect on native species.

That study culminated in an EIS covering fish stocking in the park. The preferred alternative was for continued fish stocking of low density non-reproducing fish and rehabilitation of lakes with overpopulation problems. But they inserted some monkey business. They said that they wanted clarification from Congress that their intention was to allow fish stocking when they created the park and if they didn’t get that then fish stocking would be stopped and they would start to eliminate spawning populations. And that’s where we sit right now. Fish stocking has been banned until we can get that bill through Congress and they started trying to poison problem populations in the Blum Lakes last September.

Has congress made any progress on the bill to continue stocking lakes, or are we still in a holding pattern?

Also, earlier this week I spoke with a NCNP ranger about fishing in the Thornton Lakes (West of Ross Lake) and was told fishing is not allowed in the small high lakes. I have since done my own research and cannot find this supposed fishing ban in writing. Could someone please help clarify on fishing regulations for NCNP high lakes. I have a hard time believing the ranger.

I appreciate the help!!

-Matt

told fishing is not allowed in the small high lakes

This is NOT true. When the park was created there was a specific provision negotiated with the State of Washington such that the state can sell fishing licenses to fish in the park (this is not true of any other nat’l park that I know of). You can fish where ever you like, but you must have a state freshwater fish license.

What the ranger may have been thinking about is that a relatively recent EIS has stopped all fish stocking in the park. This development might be reversed in the future, but that is uncertain.

This ranger has been telling other people this too. I spoke to someone last year at my climbing gym that was told the exact same thing. I told him I did not think the ranger was correct. It may help to get the ranger’s name so someone can ask him to clarify his statements.

His name was David @ the visitor center.

-Matt

@mkopicky wrote:

Has congress made any progress on the bill to continue stocking lakes, or are we still in a holding pattern?

I’m glad you asked that! H.R. 2351 to allow fish stocking in NCNP was just introduced to the House. It has passed the house before and isn’t expected to have any trouble passing again. It is the Senate where the bill has gotten held up. Time to contact our Senators!

Also, earlier this week I spoke with a NCNP ranger about fishing in the Thornton Lakes (West of Ross Lake) and was told fishing is not allowed in the small high lakes. I have since done my own research and cannot find this supposed fishing ban in writing. Could someone please help clarify on fishing regulations for NCNP high lakes. I have a hard time believing the ranger.

This is completely untrue. It is kind of scary that there are Park Service employees spreading this sort of nonsense.

It is kind of scary that there are Park Service employees spreading this sort of nonsense.

Well, I’m not intending to contradict you because you’re right of course, but it’s not too hard a leap to imagine a visitor center ranger, who may know little about back country regulations, to have heard the newly enacted policy of “no fish stocking in high lakes” as “no fishing in high lakes”. He should be more careful, but it’s probably not scary 😉

When I went to the Winthrop USFS office to get a permit to go to Stiletto Lake 9/14-9/16, they called Marblemount NCNP office to coordinate the permit and I ended up getting the 5 minute “talk” from a rangerette (or parkette?) on the other end of the phone… during the talk she did say that I could indeed fish and was under the rules of the WDFW fishing regs… So, it looks like to me that they must now have the proper verbage in their process.

P.S. I noted in the May 2004 NCNP Mgmt Report that Stiletto Lake would be one of the lakes targeted for non-reproductive fish species planting… :fishing:

The bill to allow fish stocking in NCNP has been reintroduced to the House. They held a hearing on H.R. 2351 last Thursday. The NPS did not oppose the bill but asked for an amendment that changes the wording of the bill from “…Secretary shall authorize stocking.” to “…Secretary may authorize stocking.”

“MAY authorize stocking…” My, what a surprise. Once that weasel word is in there, it’s ALL OVER.