MOOSE, Wyo. — On Monday, Trout Unlimited, Grand Teton National Park, Bridger Teton National Forest and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department announced the completion of the final phase of the Spread Creek Fish Passage Project.

The project was a large-scale collaborative effort aimed at preventing future losses of migratory cutthroat trout and other native fish by installing a fish screen on the Spread Creek irrigation system. It also made improvements to stabilize the diversion structure and channel within the project area, which have been damaged by flooding.

The three components of the project included:

  • Installation of a fish screen in the Spread Creek irrigation system that delivers water to ditches while returning trapped fish safely back to Spread Creek through a bypass pipe
  • Rehabilitation of the irrigation diversion structure for long-term stability and optimal fish passage conditions
  • The addition of instream structures to protect banks and irrigation infrastructure within the project area.
Spread Creek, just outside Grand Teton National Park. Photo: Josh Duplechian // Trout Unlimited
Fish screen installation. Photo: Josh Duplechian // Trout Unlimited

Instream construction was completed in November 2021, and construction of the fish screen was completed in July 2022.

Trout Unlimited released a short film to tell the story of this native trout conservation project. The Trout Unlimited short film about the project features interviews with John Turner of the Triangle X Ranch, Todd Stiles of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, Leslie Steen of Trout Unlimited, Robert Al-Chokhachy of the U.S. Geological Survey, Simeon Caskey of Grand Teton National Park and Diana Miller of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

She's a lover of alliteration, easy-to-follow recipes and board games when everyone knows the rules. Her favorite aspect about living in the Tetons is the collective admiration that Wyomingites share for the land and the life that it sustains.