I also posted this in the campfire but thought it fit here as well.
One of my friends is a teacher in this small wyoming town's school. He is an avid fisherman who guides summer trips on the side.
The students have designed an apparatus for the irrigation diversions out of the river to keep the trout out of the irrigation systems. If winning the project they will be awarded $140,000 to kick start the project. Most of the kids are hard working local ranch kids.
Students at Meeteetse have been working to solve problems facing Yellowstone cutthroat trout by designing a fish screen that has been put to use on the Pitchfork Ranch.
Teacher Mike Powers announced the news over the intercom and was met with whoops and hollers.
“I got the call Feb. 24 from Samsung,” Power said in a recent article in the Cody Enterprise. “We’re moving on. It’s huge for Meeteetse without a doubt. The kids are on top of the world.”
After reading about the contest, Mike Power, a science teacher at Meeteetse Schools and an avid fisherman, approached Trout Unlimited to find out if there was an opportunity for a project that could be focused on trout.
“I knew it was something we needed to make happen”, said Tommy Thompson, Cody-based project manager for Trout Unlimited. “Mike and I have been working together for the past couple of years on some trout-based science fair projects and education programs like TU’s Adopt-a-Trout program. I saw this as an opportunity for the kids to take what they’ve been learning and apply it to an actual on-the-ground problem.”
Thompson called up the ranch manager at the local Pitchfork Ranch, who had recently mentioned problems with fish being trapped in a gated pipe on the ranch. With the ranch’s help, and help from Trout Unlimited, the students began work designing a self-cleaning screen that will mount onto the existing irrigation diversion
"These kids are doing science to solve real problems for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout,” said Jason Burckhardt, fisheries biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. “With their help we're addressing issues that will lead to a more resilient population in one of their last strongholds."
