The Montana Chapter of the American Fisheries Society presented Barretts Minerals Inc., a subsidiary of Specialty Minerals Inc., with an award recognizing the company for its efforts to help preserve Montana’s aquatic resources.  

The Fisheries Society cited Barretts Minerals for improving the habitat of the Cutthroat trout near the Left Fork of Stone Creek. The citation stated that Barretts “has embraced this commitment wholeheartedly, vastly improving Westslope Cutthroat habitat in a two-mile reach of both the Left Fork and the upper main stem of Stone Creek.”  

Some of the contributions Barretts Minerals made include relocating part of a mine-haul road, constructing drainage and sediment collecting structures, and separately contributing funds for channel reconstruction. Barretts continues to work with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and Madison County to preserve and improve the fishery.