June 7 we cooperated with the Boise National Forest to collect eDNA samples to help understand the presence and extent of salmonid fishes along some of the small tributaries to the South Fork Boise River. The sampling effort is led by field biologists with the Boise NF with some TU volunteers helping.
Water in a tributary stream such as Pierce Creek, is pumped through a filter, and the filter is sent to a laboratory in Missoula, MT for analysis.
The small tributaries to the South Fork Boise River can be an important contributor to the SF Boise fishery where trout can spawn in these small streams and add to the population of the next generation. While individually each tributary is a small water body, collectively the contribution provide a component that promotes resilience for the fishery since not all spawning can rely on the main river where we have seen impacts to habitat in recent years from landslides and constrained flows in low water years.
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