Hi All,

My husband and I have just returned from a week long fishing trip in Montana. The weather was glorious; but, too dry. The southern rivers are down 50% and not much rain in the forecast. The winter snow was light and the snow pack is pretty much gone. To say their situation is not good is an understatement as forest fires rage in various parts of the state. This is their 9th year of drought and the worst of those years.

Montana and YNP have mandated fishing closures on various rivers in the area and for very good reason. The Hoot Owl closures in YNP close fishing at 2:00 PM until 5:00 AM on the following morning to allow the fish to rest during the heat of the day and recover during the cool nights.

During the days in the park we saw many people fishing on the closed rivers after 2:00 PM. There were 3 people with fishing gear headed for the Fishing Bridge (closed since 1972 and posted) and when the person walking in front of us told them it was closed, they ignored him. There were a number of fly fishers on the closed areas of the Yellowstone, Lamar and Soda Butte during the late afternoon and well into the evening. During our time fishing and touring we did not see a single NPS ranger. I was surprised, and disappointed at the number of folks we saw in one evening!

What would you have done in this situation?

We did nothing. There didn't seem to be much we could do or say unless we spotted a ranger and could alert them to the problem. The NPS probably already knows and believes that most of us are law abiding and the rest aren't worth worrying about considering their manpower levels.

As an aside, the fishing was excellent (legal hours) and we had our best YNP fishing ever. And, because of the closures we ventured further afield and discovered some great small mountain streams (cold, cold water) and alpine lakes. We'll be headed back again next year for more exploring...

regards,

Dianne