12/17/09

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) _ As the bid to save North America's
largest freshwater fish falters, federal officials say they plan to
spill more water out of a northwest Montana dam in hopes of getting
the species to spawn in the wild.

Kootenai River white sturgeon, which can grow up to 19 feet
long, have not successfully spawned since 1974. That's when Libby
Dam was completed _ cutting off spring runoffs that trigger the
sturgeon's upriver migration.

Fewer than 500 of the fish survive, isolated within a stretch of
the Kootenai that runs through northwest Montana, northern Idaho
and southern British Columbia.

After years of litigation, the government in 2008 agreed to let
more water out of the dam. But it hasn't been enough, and federal
fisheries officials said Wednesday they will have to increase the
releases next spring.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APNP-12-17-09 0530MST<