About The Salmonfly Project
Our Mission:
Our mission is to conserve aquatic insects for future generations through research, monitoring, education, and sound management and restoration practices.
Our Vision:
Abundant and diverse aquatic insect communities and strong hatches that sustain birds, trout, and quality fishing.
Our work:
Aquatic insects - including our flagship species, the giant salmonfly - are being threatened by pollution, dewatering, habitat loss, and warming. Even where trout, birds, and other wildlife are still abundant, insects often decline in abundance and biodiversity. What does this mean? Impaired watersheds, declining biodiveristy, and poor fishing.
We believe that the best solution is a holistic approach. We work together with diverse interests - anglers, birders, scientists, and conservationists - to research aquatic insects, monitor populations, educate the community, prevent future declines, and restore streams and rivers. Join us.
Meet the Co-Founders
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Co-Founder and Co-Director
Jackson Birrell is a PhD graduate from the University of Montana, where he studied the factors that shape aquatic insect distributions and the drivers of salmonfly declines across the Rockies. He co-founded the Salmonfly Project to help conserve the stream insects he loves for future generations. His passion for conservation stems from a deep wonder of aquatic insects, their natural history, ecology, and biodiversity, and a desire for others to experience the joy of wild, biodiverse rivers.
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Co-Founder and Co-Director
James Frakes is a graduate from the University of Montana where he received his Master's degree in Aquatic Ecology. As an avid fly fisherman, he understands the ecological, economic, and cultural importance of aquatic insects. His research on aquatic insects suggests that declines of salmonflies, as well as other sensitive species, are likely due to complex, interacting stressors in western rivers, including warming water temperatures and increasing levels of pollution. He is excited to continue his research, establish new monitoring programs, and develop restoration projects to save the hatches he knows and loves.
Our story:
It all began with a simple question asked by two graduate students: ‘Why are salmonflies disappearing from some rivers and not others?’ Answering this question became the main driver of our graduate research and now, our life’s work. Like most good science, our research has lead to many important insights (read about them, here), and even more questions. We now know that salmonfly - and other species - survival depends on a complex suite environmental factors.
Compared to fish and birds, aquatic insects are rarely studied by big-name conservation organizations. We started The Salmonfly Project to fill in the gap. We’re here to unravel the mystery of the disappearing aquatic insects, improve stream insect management, and perform sound restoration projects. Our work not only protects aquatic insects, like salmonflies, but also fish, birds, and people that rely on them.