EA Hodge Private Pond License Review FWP-CEA-FSH-R4-25-022

A private landowner is applying for a Private Fish Pond License and proposes to stock brook trout, brown trout and rainbow trout. FWP is required to review the potential impacts of issuing a Private Fish Pond License. The pond is on an intermittent spring drainage approximately 200-feet from the spring source. The pond is an excavated pit with a manmade dam. The outlet consists of a screened trickle tube and earthen spillway that activates during periods of high flow. The pond was previously permitted for fish stocking, but the license has expired.

The primary source of water for the pond is the spring at the head of the drainage. The inlet is marshy, and reproduction of stocked salmonids would not be expected. The pond outlet would be screened to prevent escapement of stocked salmonids. The outlet drains into the spring drainage. The drainage does not have a well-defined channel. Water flows through another reservoir approximately 0.8 miles downstream and then encounters another reservoir 1.9 miles downstream again. Water in the drainage is then diverted through agricultural fields and hay meadows and is intersected by multiple irrigation ditches. The drainage eventually reaches the Judith River at river mile 88.0, approximately 17 miles from the proposed pond. There is no survey data available on the pond drainage. Due to the significant degree of habitat manipulation and the broader intermittent nature of the drainage, much of the drainage is assumed fishless. There are no known game fish or species of concern populations present in the drainage. Brook trout, brown trout, and rainbow trout are all present in the Judith River.  

The project is sponsored by the private landowner and the license would be active for a period of 10-years from the year of issuance (2025). The license can be renewed for additional 10-year intervals at the end of each term and the license is transferable.

Related Documents: EA Hodge Private Pond License Review FWP-CEA-FSH-R4-25-022

Duration of Public Comment Period: The public comment period begins on the date of publication on the FWP website. Written or e-mailed comments will be accepted until 5:00 p.m., MST, on the last day of public comment, as listed below:

 

Length of Public Comment Period: 15 days

Public Comment Period Begins: May 27, 2025

Public Comment Period Ends: June 10, 2025

 

Comments must be addressed to the FWP contact, as listed below.

 

Where to Mail or Email Comments on the Draft EA:

Name: Clint Smith, lewistown area fisheries biologist

Email: clsmith@mt.gov

Mailing Address:

PO Box 938

Lewistown, MT 549457