Event December 10 in Butte & Online: Water Quality Monitoring Across the jefferson basin
Press Advisory, Upcoming Event in Butte & Online
Save Wild Trout: Water Quality Monitoring Across the Jefferson Basin
Field Report from the Big Hole, Beaverhead, Ruby & Beyond
WHAT: Public presentation on water quality monitoring program and conditions across the Jefferson River Basin
WHO: Brian Wheeler, Director of Save Wild Trout
WHEN: 6:00–7:15 PM, Wednesday, December 10, 2025
WHERE: Montana Tech – Copper Lounge, Student Union Building
1300 W. Park Street, Butte, MT
FORMAT: In-person & livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/savewildtrout
Media Contact:
Brian Wheeler, Director
Save Wild Trout
brian(at)savewildtrout.org
406.925.3290
Save Wild Trout invites the public and media to a detailed briefing on water quality across the Jefferson Basin. Director Brian Wheeler, long known for his leadership at the Big Hole River Foundation and now advancing that work under Save Wild Trout, will provide both a programmatic and post-season update from the organization’s basin-wide scientific monitoring initiative. What began as critical monitoring on the Big Hole has expanded to cover the entire Jefferson Basin, measuring river conditions to document current conditions, change, identify risks, and protect the waters that sustain wild trout and local communities.
The presentation builds on the early monitoring work of the Big Hole River Foundation and Save Wild Trout’s first-of-its-kind scientific report, Jefferson River Basin Abiotic Monitoring 2023–2024, available here:
https://www.savewildtrout.org/newsletter/save-wild-trout-releases-first-of-its-kind-scientific-reports-on-jefferson-basin
Wheeler will share a program overview, updates, and on-the-ground observations from some of the basin’s most iconic and most stressed waterways. As a longtime fishing guide, he understands firsthand the importance of water quality for fishery health, an essential part of Montana’s $1.3 billion fishing economy.
Whether you’re a student, angler, local resident, or simply concerned about Montana’s rivers (including the Big Hole River, which supplies water to Butte), this event offers an opportunity to learn about the basin’s most extensive independent science effort documenting river health for water protection and recovery.
To support this critical monitoring initiative, Save Wild Trout is also hosting an online raffle now through December 21. Details and tickets are available at:
https://go.eventgroovefundraising.com/savewildtrout/Campaign/Details
More information, including the online raffle to support this monitoring program, is available at SaveWildTrout.org.
