Fisheries Technician - Fishlake National Forest

After living in Richfield for three months and working for the Fishlake National Forest, it was time to move on. My internship was cut short by a couple of weeks due to my housing contract reaching its termination date. I tried finding alternative housing options to stick around a little bit longer, but none were available. With seven weeks remaining before the start of my next adventure, I decided to move home and enjoy my time off. It has been another incredible summer working as a Fisheries Technician. While I was there, we completed 40 Fish Population Stations throughout the forest. A Fish Population Station consists of a 100 meter stretch of stream capped on either end by a natural barrier which inhibits fish passage or block nets that we set up in order to restrict the movement of fish in or out of the station. We then perform two or more passes of the stream with an electroshocker that emits a pulsating current into the water and stuns the fish. Most often the fish are stunned by the shock and turn belly up as the stream current caries them downstream. Occasionally, fish will avoid the shock and dart upstream or run past our nets as they flee downstream. We make two passes of the stream to ensure removal of as many fish as possible. The second pass needs to be a small proportion of the total number of fish removed. We weigh and measure each fish and then release them back into the stream. Population size can then be estimated and compared with previous years data to see trends over time for each station, which is a representative sample of a larger stream system. Also, in many of those stations we took measurements of the flow rate, exchanged temperature probe monitors, and measured pebble/rocks sizes to determine the physical conditions of fish habitat in each stream.

Our other primary focus this summer was amphibian monitoring. The methods employed for this project were visual encounter surveys as well as eDNA (environmental DNA) sampling. Water samples was collected on a bi-weekly rotation on two mountain ranges, Thousand Lake Mountain and Monroe Mountain. Filter pads were packaged and shipped to the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Montana where DNA analysis will look for left over genetic material from Boreal Toads. This study relies on the understanding that in aquatic environments, organisms leave behind traces of their DNA in the form of skin, hair, or fecal material. Analyzing water samples and testing against known genetic markers for each species, scientists should be able to determine presence/absence of a given species for that location.

Boreal Chorus Frog (Pseudacris maculata)

While the number of toads found on Thousand Lake Mountain grew each month as new sub-populations were discovered and successful breeding and recruitment was observed, a depressingly low number of Boreal Toads were found on Monroe Mountain this year. Biscuit, the first toad found and PIT tagged on the Fishlake National Forest, was also likely to be our first casualty. We found Biscuit on several occasions below the same pond, but as the summer months disappeared so too did the water in the pond. In the same location, just below the pond, we found a dead toad. Due to the amount of desiccation, it was hard to make a visual identification and we were unable to recover a PIT tag for confirmation. No other toads have been seen in the vicinity since that time. I was fortunate enough to discover the next two toads in separate locations. The fourth and final toad found on Monroe Mountain was spotted by a volunteer from the Hogle Zoo, who came down from Salt Lake City to help with a week-long effort of amphibian surveys. Although, Boreal Toads seem to be suffering throughout the West, Boreal Chorus Frogs and Tiger Salamanders seem to be doing alright. We came across many of them in our surveys.

Overall, this has been an adventure filled summer. I really enjoyed the time I spent living in Richfield and working as a Fisheries Technician on the Fishlake National Forest. There is no other way I would have wanted to spend my first summer out of college!