Established in 1984, the Henry’s Fork Foundation is one of the country’s leading watershed-specific conservation organizations. It works to protect one of the most iconic trout fisheries in America. (Charlie Lansche photo)
August 17, 2024
By Josh Bergan
Imagine a bony vein of spring water flowing beneath the mountains of Idaho and Wyoming. Abandoned cabins dot the forested high-desert landscape, the land being relatively useless since the loss of its lifeblood. The only civilization is the vehicles on U.S. Highway 20, which serves as an avenue between Yellowstone National Park and some populated parts of Idaho where the formerly celebrated Henry’s Fork of the Snake River used to flow. It’s only a remnant flowage capable of supporting few fish and little aquatic life.
This could be the case if not for the efforts of the Henry’s Fork Foundation (HFF), one of the nation’s first watershed-specific protection and conservation organizations. You might find that a bit farfetched, but with all that we ask of our Western rivers today, it might not be. The HFF is celebrating 40 years of defending its namesake river this year saying that it has turned back time 30 years for the drainage.
The river starts at the junction of the Henry’s Lake Outlet and the rich waters of Big Springs in southeastern Idaho about 20 miles west of Yellowstone National Park. It surges through canyons, reservoirs, and dams, over towering waterfalls, and through a rich agrarian valley before joining the South Fork of the Snake River to form the main stem Snake River near the town of Idaho Falls.
No one doubts that it’s a river worth protecting or that the HFF serves a noble purpose. With a mission to “conserve, protect, and restore the unique fisheries, wildlife, and aesthetic qualities of the Henry’s Fork and its watershed,” it has pioneered several innovative programs and projects to maintain the river’s legendary status as a trout stream, and serve as a model for other river-protection organizations worldwide.
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A Brief History The catalyst for the creation of the HFF was that the banks of its most heralded stretch—the Railroad Ranch, aka Harriman State Park—were eroding due to cattle grazing. This reduced trout and bug habitat and created turbid flows. So in 1984, a small group of passionate locals came together to install a solar-powered electric fence along the banks of this section—a fence that is still used today.
“In terms of that visual feeling you get being in the Ranch, that was a huge factor for the fishing experience,” said Jamie Powell, communications and outreach director for the HFF. “It really restored the scenic and natural beauty, and the health of that riparian ecosystem.”
Among this passionate group was an organizer named Bill Manlove, who rallied other like-minded locals to protect the river. Thus one of the first watershed-specific protection organizations was formed.
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“The story of the Henry’s Fork cannot be told without including the Henry’s Fork Foundation,” Chris Littauer, vice president of Victor, Idaho-based WorldCast Anglers said. “HFF’s science-based, collaborative process has set the standard for nonprofit conservation of Western coldwater fisheries and serves as a shining example of what is possible in an ever-challenging ecological and social environment.”
Challenges and Solutions Local fishing legend Mike Lawson, in an article he wrote for Fly Fisherman more than a decade ago , spoke of the organization’s contributions:
“In 1978 the 4-mile-long Box Canyon stretch alone supported more than 18,000 trout!” he wrote. “On the Railroad Ranch, pods of large trout sipped mayflies and caddis in the soft currents where the water is seldom more than waist-deep and anglers can stalk trout from bank to bank. By the mid-1980s, however, Henry’s Fork regulars noticed a decline in the quality of fishing. The Idaho Department of Fish & Game confirmed the decline when it reported a drop in the trout population . . . .
(Courtesy of Henry’s Forks Foundation - Graph Illustrations) “Fortunately, the Henry’s Fork Foundation and other groups have worked to improve the river’s fishery, primarily by increasing flows from Island Park Dam and opening spawning habitat above a dam on the Buffalo River, an important tributary.”
Along with protecting the banks of the Ranch, the HFF has completed dozens of other projects in its four decades to address problems and concerns, often using its generosity and innovation to effectively protect the Henry’s Fork.
One such project came about in the early 1990s, when competing interests of anglers and ranchers came to a head. The Idaho legislature, with support from the HFF, created the Henry’s Fork Watershed Council as a forum for collaboration.
“It essentially was the turning point from farming interests and fishing interests being adversaries,” Powell said. “So now they’re being forced to sit down and talk through these watershed issues. To the point where now they’ll say hi to each other in the grocery store, and they know each other’s families.”
Aaron Dalling, executive director of the Fremont-Madison Irrigation District, agrees that the HFF manages this potentially contentious relationship well.
“They understand that there is some built-up concern from both the irrigator/farmer side and the angler side when we try and work together,” he said. “They are sensitive to these issues.”
“Pretty much everything we do to benefit the fishery has to go through the people who own the water, which is the farmers,” Powell added. “So everything we accomplished today for the fishery began with first building our relationships with the people who have the authority to manage the water.”
More recently, and as with most rivers, one of the biggest challenges facing the Henry’s Fork are the floods and droughts resulting from climate change. From roughly 2000 to 2016, a series of poor water years had major impacts on the fishery. So in 2015, the HFF kicked off a series of projects to combat drought.
“The big thing that we learned is that everything revolves around Island Park Reservoir,” Powell said. “That is the center of our universe. So how do we have an effect on the health of the fisheries through this reservoir?”
Thus came the Precision Water Management Project and the Farms and Fish Program—both of which involve conserving water in Island Park Reservoir. Farms and Fish works with ranchers to encourage crop rotation changes, try new crops that need less water, or use water at times of abundance rather than times of scarcity. Precision Water Management involves managing headgates on irrigation ditches to very specific flows with the help of smartphone apps, which HFF funded using various grants and donations. These programs save thousands of acre-feet of water every year, which allows for increased flows in the river, benefiting trout.
“This directly increases your trout recruitment by about 550 trout per year,” Powell said.
Dalling sees the HFF as an essential partner in maximizing water-use efficiency. Projects like automated structures, data collection, and the ability to make precise adjustments based on live data have allowed farmers and irrigators to recognize problems before they have a negative impact.
“HFF has been a significant contributor to helping us more precisely deliver irrigation water to farmers,” he said via e-mail. “They have also worked with farmers on the individual farm scale to better manage water resources by implementing conservation projects. Starting in 2019, they helped us apply for a Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART grant to automate some of our key water control structures and provided in-kind and financial assistance to install flow measurement stations. This has been critical in helping us to more precisely manage our water resources.
“Finally, HFF implemented a program to provide financial incentive to farmers if they plant less water-consumptive crops to reduce irrigation demand, essentially leaving the water in the reservoir. This proved to be very beneficial during the drought years of 2021 and 2022.
(Courtesy of Henry’s Forks Foundation - Graph Illustrations) “All of these things have significantly reduced draft of Island Park Reservoir during the irrigation season. This additional water held in the reservoir is good for both irrigator/farmer and angler.”
Over the years, hydropower development has been proposed several times, including near the scenic Mesa Falls. So HFF rallied politicians to come float the river to see why it deserves protection, and shortly thereafter federal legislation was passed that banned any new hydropower projects in that area.
HFF also monitors turbidity in real time at several sites by measuring the current Formazin Nephelometric Units (FNU). If an alarming reading comes across the graph, employees investigate.
Turbidity, the clarity of the water as it becomes darkened by debris like silt, decaying plant material, and tannins, can affect aquatic life by blocking sunlight, carrying contaminants, reducing dissolved oxygen, and raising water temperatures.
According to the HFF’s website: “The Henry’s Fork is a relatively clear river with usual levels of turbidity between 0.05 and 10 Formazin Nephelometric Units (FNU). For reference, well water typically ranges from 0.05 to 10 FNU, orange juice typically ranges from 300 to 900 FNU, and wastewater has a typical turbidity range of 70 to 2000 FNU.”
These and other efforts from the HFF have created a stable environment for the fishery, the economy that depends on it, and the beautiful ecosystem that the drainage provides.
“The Henry’s Fork might be the most famous trout river in the entire world and to think that in the 1980s it was in such a marginalized and vulnerable position compared to today is surreal,” added Littauer.
The River Today Challenges will always exist for the Henry’s Fork. Some of today’s biggest risks for fish and fishing are the increasing turbidity from Island Park Reservoir, sediment, and increasing water temperatures.
“Of all of the issues facing the Box Canyon and the Ranch, turbidity ranks at the top,” Lawson wrote in a 2023 Henry’s Fork Anglers blog post. He went on to commend the HFF for its efforts but noted that the fight is far from over and that additional solutions might be needed.
“Some of us thought the fishing on the ranch was history, and I contemplated looking for another job. Yet we learned how resilient the river can be if the sediment is controlled at its source.”
Many anglers also feel that its famed hatches are not what they used to be. The full spectrum of drakes, Pale Morning Duns, and Salmonflies in the Box Canyon draw anglers from all over the world to tempt its large trout. Seasoned veterans are noticing changes.
“Most anglers who fished the ranch on a regular basis believe the hatches dropped off, especially in 2022,” wrote Lawson. “Our records clearly show that the hatches were definitely much better in the 1980s and 1990s . . . (when) only 6.5% (of landed trout) were caught on hoppers. Today that number is unheard of. I believe that more trout have been caught on the ranch blind fishing a hopper pattern than all other dry-fly imitations combined.”
Ph.D. research on the upper Henry’s Fork answers critical questions about the health of the trout fishery and how to best protect it. Preserving flows and reducing sedimentation by working with local shareholders has “turned back the clock” 30 years. (Natalie Pontikes photo) But the organization is not without its critics from the fishing community who say it’s not doing enough, that it’s using its resources unwisely, or that its broadened focus on the larger river system detracts from its ability to get things done on the namesake river. But Powell and the HFF are not necessarily discouraged by this as it’s indicative that the passion that started the organization in the 1980s is still going strong.
“There’s so many people who are diehard fans of this river who love this river and live for this river and we’re lucky to have people who feel that way,” Powell said. “And we recognize that they’re coming from that same place of care about the health of the river . . . but we feel like we’re having a measurable impact and unprecedented levels of success.”
Even with all the threats facing rivers in the American West, the Henry’s Fork fishery is persevering.
“We feel that we’ve turned the clock back 30 years,” Powell said. “Knowing that it’s getting warmer and drier, and springtime temperatures are increasing, you would expect worse conditions, especially for the Ranch and Island Park (Reservoir). The water supply is 50 percent less than was, but we’re improving how much water is left in the reservoir at the end of the year by 40 to 50 percent. This results in the boosting of winter flows by over 100 cfs (cubic feet per second), adding over 500 rainbow trout every year to this part of the river.”
The Future Next up for the HFF is a project it calls “The DIRTT Plan” which aims to combat high temperatures and turbidity.
DIRTT, which stands for Developing Infrastructure to Reduce Temperature and Turbidity, is a multi-faceted venture that, with the help of the Idaho Department of Fish & Game, plans to update aging and “inflexible” infrastructure and restore degraded tributaries.
“Drought, climate change, and reservoir management decisions may be suppressing groundwater inputs to Island Park Reservoir and the Henry’s Fork,” Dr. Jack McLaren, aquatic ecology program manager for the HFF, wrote about the DIRTT Plan. “We seek to study potential methods to increase groundwater inputs and restore the quality of surface water inputs.”
Life isn’t getting easier for trout streams, and these rivers need warriors. Over the past several decades, few warriors have been as impactful as the Henry’s Fork Foundation.
“We’re very proud that we can say we can measure the positive impact that we are having on this river,” said Powell.
“The river has been in great hands for 40 years and thanks to the Henry’s Fork Foundation, we can confidently say it will be in great hands for another 40 years,” Littauer added. “As anglers and professionals, we cannot say thank you enough.”
Josh Bergan is Fly Fisherman magazine’s digital editor.
