Groups to rally for bull trout protections

Updated: Saturday, February 27, 2010 9:09 AM

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Activist groups plan to rally in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's proposal to more than quadruple habitat protections for the bull trout.

Members of the Sierra Club, Idaho Conservation League, Wilderness Society, Idaho Rivers United and Trout Unlimited are expected to gather Thursday in Boise to support efforts to further protect the fish.

The bull trout has been harmed by logging, mining and grazing on federal lands.

The Fish and Wildlife agency last month proposed designating 23,000 miles of streams and 533,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Nevada as critical habitat.

The area includes nearly 1,000 miles of marine shoreline in Washington.