June 2022 - 14

A LOOK BACK CASE FILES
Fond memories
at Pole Mountain
Volunteers helped stock brook trout in beaver ponds
at the popular southeast Wyoming fishery
By Robin Kepple
F
or more than 40 years, on the first
Saturday in June, volunteers have
helped stock brook trout in beaver
ponds in the Pole Mountain Unit of
the Medicine Bow National Forest between
Cheyenne and Laramie.
Beaver ponds on the 53,330-acre Pole
Mountain Unit receive significant fishing
pressure, but the streams that connect
the ponds support limited natural fish
reproduction. To meet angler demands the
ponds are stocked annually with 15,000 to
20,000 fingerling brook trout. Since the 1970s
the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has
enlisted the help of volunteers, who handcarried
buckets of fish to stock more than 100
ponds. While the ponds will continue to be
stocked, changing department priorities have
resulted in the conclusion of the historic and
popular public volunteer effort.
The history of the volunteer effort goes
back to 1973, when now-retired Game and
Fish fish biologist Bob McDowell began
an inventory of the beaver ponds to better
manage the Pole Mountain fishery for anglers.
Funds were scarce that year, and the lack of
money prevented him from hiring a fisheries
technician to help him sample the ponds. So
McDowell turned to his very first volunteer
of sorts - his English springer spaniel, Rusty.
" When I had to set gill nets to sample fish,
I would stand on one side of the pond and tie
a stick onto the float line, then throw the net
out into the pond, " McDowell said. " Then I
would send Rusty to retrieve the stick. " He
directed the dog to the other side of the pond,
and waited while the dog pulled the net to him.
14 | June 2022
Rusty, an English springer spaniel, helps Bob McDowell pull a net across a beaver pond at Pole Mountain. When McDowell worked
as a fish biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department he started the volunteer stocking project for the area. (Photo
courtesy of Bob McDowell/WGFD)
He and Rusty mapped every drainage in
the Pole Mountain area. " I mapped about
1,300 ponds. I knew which ponds needed
stocking, which had natural reproduction
and which areas needed better beaver
management. Getting beavers in balance with
their habitat was the key to stabilizing the
ponds for a more consistent fishery, " he said.
McDowell then set out to stock fish and
quickly learned this was no easy task.
" Stocking that many ponds took three
days or more with only the Game and Fish
crew, " he said. " Then I went to a sportsmen's
meeting in Cheyenne and gave a report on
this project, and they asked if they could
help. "
Thus the volunteer program was created.
McDowell said there were only five or six
people who helped the first year, but it grew
from there. Many volunteers represented

June 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2022

June 2022 - 1
June 2022 - 2
June 2022 - 3
June 2022 - 4
June 2022 - 5
June 2022 - 6
June 2022 - 7
June 2022 - 8
June 2022 - 9
June 2022 - 10
June 2022 - 11
June 2022 - 12
June 2022 - 13
June 2022 - 14
June 2022 - 15
June 2022 - 16
June 2022 - 17
June 2022 - 18
June 2022 - 19
June 2022 - 20
June 2022 - 21
June 2022 - 22
June 2022 - 23
June 2022 - 24
June 2022 - 25
June 2022 - 26
June 2022 - 27
June 2022 - 28
June 2022 - 29
June 2022 - 30
June 2022 - 31
June 2022 - 32
June 2022 - 33
June 2022 - 34
June 2022 - 35
June 2022 - 36
June 2022 - 37
June 2022 - 38
June 2022 - 39
June 2022 - 40
June 2022 - 41
June 2022 - 42
June 2022 - 43
June 2022 - 44
June 2022 - 45
June 2022 - 46
June 2022 - 47
June 2022 - 48
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/wyoming-wildlife-may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2024-e-edition
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-iak-special-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/dec-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/January2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/December2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/September2020
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com