Project Big Wood

02/05/2026

The International Fly Fishing Film Festival is back!⁠
Friday February 13th Doors open at 5:30, films start at 6:30⁠
⁠
Grab your friends, family, and fishing partners and join us for an unforgettable night of fly-fishing films, hosted by the Wood River Valley’s local Trout Unlimited chapter. Every ticket supports youth education programs from , .anglers, and .⁠
⁠
Each ticket includes a complimentary raffle entry for a chance to win a float trip on the Upper Salmon River, generously donated by White Otter Outfitters.⁠
⁠
Bring the whole family—there will be door prizes, kids’ raffles, and a silent auction.⁠
⁠
Get your tickets before they sell out at the Argyros, or comment ticket, and we will send you the link! ⁠
⁠

02/02/2026

Like its tributaries, the Big Wood River mainstem shows very low phosphorus, squarely within the “Good” category. But nitrogen levels tell a more concerning story: the river’s mean TDN is 0.139 mg/L, which is exactly the EPA threshold between “Good” and “Fair.” In other words, the main stem is sitting right on the edge.

Some individual sites — including Easley and Bullion Bridge — already fluctuate between healthy and poor nitrogen levels throughout the year. In a system that is strongly phosphorus-limited, even modest increases in nitrogen or phosphorus could shift the ecological balance. These findings show that the Big Wood River is healthy in some ways, vulnerable in others, and that consistent long-term monitoring is essential to protecting its resilience.

Our watershed baseline is just getting started. Explore the full report on our website — link in bio.

***EPA Healthy River Standards (for refrence) ⁠
Total P: ⁠
Good threshold- 0.018(mg/L)⁠
Poor threshold- 0.041(mg/L)⁠
Total N:⁠
Good threshold- 0.139(mg/L)⁠
Poor threshold- 0.249(mg/L)

01/30/2026

Wow! Thank you for coming together and helping us surpass our ambitious $100,000 goal! Together we are making a better Big Wood River.

01/26/2026

The East Fork shows very low phosphorus, well within the “Good” threshold — again characteristic of a strongly phosphorus-limited system. But nitrogen tells a more complicated story. The mean TDN (0.128 mg/L) is below the “Good” threshold overall, but the lower site fluctuates between healthy and poor concentrations at different sampling times.

This upper-to-lower divergence is something we need to watch closely. It may reflect natural seasonal variation, changing land-use influences, or other downstream factors — and we don’t yet have enough data to determine which. What we do know is that the East Fork’s lower reach is showing intermittent nutrient pressure, making it an important focus for 2025 monitoring.

Our watershed baseline is just getting started. Explore the full report on our website — link in bio.

***EPA Healthy River Standards (for refrence) ⁠
Total P: ⁠
Good threshold- 0.018(mg/L)⁠
Poor threshold- 0.041(mg/L)⁠
Total N:⁠
Good threshold- 0.139(mg/L)⁠
Poor threshold- 0.249(mg/L)

01/23/2026

The International Fly Fishing Film Festival is back!
Friday February 13th Doors open at 5:30, films start at 6:30

Grab your friends, family, and fishing partners and join us for an unforgettable night of fly-fishing films, hosted by the Wood River Valley’s local Trout Unlimited chapter. Every ticket supports youth education programs from , .anglers, and .

Each ticket includes a complimentary raffle entry for a chance to win a float trip on the Upper Salmon River, generously donated by White Otter Outfitters.

Bring the whole family—there will be door prizes, kids’ raffles, and a silent auction.

Get your tickets before they sell out at the Argyros, or comment ticket, and we will send you the link!

01/20/2026

Trail Creek shows very low phosphorus concentrations, well within the “Good” range, indicating another phosphorus-limited stream. Its mean nitrogen level (0.099 mg/L) is well below the “Good” threshold, making it the lowest nitrogen concentration of the tributaries sampled so far.⁠
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However, low nutrients don’t equal invulnerability. Like the other streams, Trail Creek is nutrient-limited and therefore highly responsive to change. The current water-temperature record (mean 37°F, max 49°F) shows a cool, stable system, but more data, especially from peak summer, is needed to understand long-term temperature trends for species like trout, which begin experiencing stress around 65°F.⁠
⁠
Trail Creek appears healthy now, but it is still a sensitive, nutrient-limited tributary that requires ongoing monitoring.⁠
⁠
Our watershed baseline is just getting started. Explore the full report on our website — link in bio.⁠
⁠
***EPA Healthy River Standards (for refrence) ⁠
Total P: ⁠
Good threshold- 0.018(mg/L)⁠
Poor threshold- 0.041(mg/L)⁠
Total N:⁠
Good threshold- 0.139(mg/L)⁠
Poor threshold- 0.249(mg/L)

01/12/2026

01/07/2026

Our First Look at the Big Wood’s Water Quality!

Project Big Wood has launched a water-quality monitoring program on the Big Wood and its tributaries in partnership with Science on the Fly. 

This program consists of collecting monthly samples from the entire Big Wood River watershed, including Warm Springs Creek, Trail Creek, and the East Fork. Samples are analyzed for nutrients, temperature, dissolved organic carbon, and silica.

The first round of data shows a river system that is consistently phosphorus-limited, which is normal for mountain streams but also makes it highly sensitive to any added nutrients (phosphorus) added from the runoff of pollutants. We’re also seeing nitrogen levels hovering near or above EPA thresholds in several locations, and site-by-site fluctuations that highlight real vulnerabilities in some sections of the watershed. 

Over the next month, we’ll break down the findings for each tributary and the Big Wood mainstem, but first, a quick guide to the nutrients and indicators we’re monitoring in the Big Wood River. These are the compounds we track each month — and why they matter for a healthy, resilient river.

Link in bio for full report!

11/30/2025

Afternoon, friends! Our Sunday Read landed a little later today, but it’s packed with exciting updates as we head into December. Funding secured for a major floodplain reconnection project, stronger long-term data coming in from the field, a sold-out paint-and-sip, and a new EcoWatch report you’ll want to see.

If you care about the Big Wood, give it a read.

Tap the link in our bio to dig in.

Photo:

11/02/2025

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Fall, planning, and updates about water quality on the Big Wood—don't miss it.

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