Lake-dwelling Arctic grayling are getting a little help from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks inMontana’s Centennial Valley. The fish are the last remaining natural population of adfluvial grayling in Montana, although their eggs have been spawned and the fry released in about 30 other lakes in the state. Fluvial, or river-dwelling grayling, are hanging on in the Big Hole River thanks to cooperative work by landowners and the state. The fish is being considered for listing as a threatened or endangered species, a draft decision is expected this September. Although a member of the trout and salmon family, grayling stand out because of their large, sail-like dorsal fin. During their spring spawn, the fins are brightly colored in deep blue tones. The two agencies have been transplanting grayling eggs in other streams on the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, rehabilitating some of the spawning streams as well as removing nonnative Yellowstone cutthroat trout and brook trout from the streams. The work seems to be paying off with the population of grayling rebounding significantly. For more on the fish, see the story in The Billings Gazette at: http://bit.ly/1nGQBtb

(Written by Brett French-Outdoors Editor for the Billings Gazette)