Creek Channel Detonation

In this spectacular and extraordinary photo, the exact moment of detonation is captured as engineers, land managers, and biologists worked together to reestablish Elk Springs Creek's historic creek channel so it may again flow naturally and thus further benefit imperiled Arctic grayling fish at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. Waterfowl hunters had changed the creek channel in 1908. This change in flow, until this photo, had prevented these fish from accessing critically important spawning grounds and also limited crucial oxygenated water from entering Upper Red Rock Lake, where the fish overwinter. Photo by James "Newt" Perdue/USFWS Volunteer.