USU-led Volunteers Bringing Salmonflies Back to Logan River April 7

What caused the once-plentiful salmonfly to disappear from the Logan River?

 

It’s a mystery, says Utah State University entomologist Mark Vinson.

 

Could herbicides used in the 1960s to eradicate sagebrush be the culprit? Perhaps ice-melting chemicals used on the Logan Canyon highway are to blame. Maybe the widened roadway led to the insects’ demise. Hard to say.

 

Whatever the case, Vinson, aided by a local fishing group called the Cache Anglers and other volunteers, is heading up Blacksmith Fork Canyon this Saturday, April 7, to gather salmonfly nymphs from the Blacksmith Fork River for transport north to the Logan River in Logan Canyon.

 

Vinson, research assistant professor in the Department of Watershed Sciences, heads the Bureau of Land Management’s National Aquatic Monitoring Center (aka “The BugLab”) based at USU. About 12 years ago, he discovered that salmonflies, natives of the Logan area and a favorite treat of trout, were missing from the Logan River. He initiated the salmonfly relocation project in December 2004 and thousands of the critters have been moved since.

 

But are the new settlers proliferating? Samples taken by the lab indicate that the nymphs are surviving the move but no one has reported seeing a mature adult fly in the Logan River during subsequent May hatching times. Vinson asks anglers and other canyon visitors to watch for the large flies and report any sightings to his lab.

 

Volunteers who wish to participate in this Saturday’s relocation project should RSVP to Nick Jones by email at dbnightfish@hotmail.com. Volunteers will gather at 10 a.m. at the Civilian Conservation Corps campsite on the Blacksmith Fork River, about a mile east of Hyrum on State Road 101. Banners will mark the meeting place. Participants should bring waders and warm clothing.

 

For more information, contact Chris Thomas at 435-797-3753.

 

 

Contact: Mark Vinson [aqua@cc.usu.edu], 435-797-2038