Adopt-A-Trout
Teacher's Guides
The Blackfoot Watershed Adopt-A-Trout Project involves the capture of fluvial westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout that have migrated to the Milltown Dam. The following activities will occur during this project:
  • This project will link data on fish migration, collected by Montana FWP, to teachers and students. 
  • Radio transmitters will be implanted in the transferred fish to monitor fish movement.
  • They will be released upstream of the dam so they can complete their spawning migrations. 
  • Teachers will receive training on the Adopt-A-Trout project.
  • Students and teachers at all schools within the watershed will be offered two field tours, one to the Milltown Dam and the other to a fish spawning/habitat area.
The Blackfoot River begins near Rogers Pass, located east of Lincoln, MT.  It travels west to the Clark Fork River at Bonner. The Blackfoot River is 132.5 miles long. The Indians called the river "Cokalahishkit" which meant "river of the road to the buffalo". The valley in which the river flowed was guarded by the Blackfeet Indians. The upper portion of the river is home to cutthroat, brook, bull trout, and whitefish.  The middle and lower portions also contain brown and rainbow trout.
Primary Lesson Plans K-2 Intermediate Lesson Plans 3-6
Middle School Lesson Plans 6-8 High School Lesson Plans 9-12
Home Trout Adoption Bibliography Kids' Bookmarks E-Mail

© Sandi Smith, Educational Technology Specialist, Helena, MT 59601. All rights reserved.
February 1, 2001, revised.
Background courtesy of