Following five years of research and planning a $6.5 million project a development designed to protect the fish but also to benefit Montanans is underway at the Thompson Falls Dam.  

"This is really an exciting project, it's the result of years of biological research," explains PPL Montana Director of External Affairs, David Hoffman.

Hoffman says the dam is operated to generate electricity for Montanans, but they also benefit recreation and help protect resources - like wildlife.

"This is a fish ladder that's designed to help bull trout in particular and endangered species and to some extent western cutthroat trout navigate over this dam to access hundreds of miles of rivers upstream," said Hoffman.

The project features a series of steps for the fish to follow the stream of water. At the bottom of the ladder there will be some turbulence to imitate natural falls which attract the fish. The fish will then go up the man made steps which simulate steps in the rock in the original falls. They'll be able to  swim up 50 steps and get right into the river through a 40-inch tube.

"It'll open up the Bitterroot, the Clark Fork, the Flathead, and the Blackfoot rivers that haven't been accessible through the dam for almost 90 years," said  Thompson Falls Hydroelectric Facility Foreman, Noel Jacobson.

On-lookers can also watch the process.

"It's going to offer a lot of opportunities for the schools the viewing area will be a good area for them to watch the fish being handled and weighed and tagged and see the study process from the biology point of view," said Jacobson.

"I think we're going to see efforts by other dam owners on the Clark Fork to look at this and maybe simulate it," adds David Hoffman.  

"This is really the last obstruction on the Clark Fork River all the way to the headwaters if you look at the Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers especially now with the removal of the Milltown dam," said Hoffman.

The fish ladder construction is still in the beginning stages, but come December of 2010 thousands of fish will be reunited with their native habitat.

Hoffman says part of the operation of the dams and waterways involves creating fishing access sites, boat launches and picnic areas.