Bemidji fifth graders release trout, learn hands-on environmental skills

Trout in the classroom ended with trout in the Clearwater River, giving Bemidji-area fifth graders a hands-on lesson in why fish habitat and water quality matter far beyond one school day.

Students from Gene Dillon Elementary, Cass Lake schools and Schoolcraft Learning Community had raised the rainbow trout since December before releasing them this spring along the Clearwater River in Pinewood, northwest of Bemidji. The outing connected classroom work to the kind of waterways Beltrami County depends on for fishing, wildlife and long-term stewardship.

The project was part of Trout in the Classroom, run with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and a local Trout Unlimited chapter. Students did more than carry buckets to the riverbank. They learned how to identify insects that can signal polluted water, recognize wildlife and plants, and read river currents to figure out where trout are likely to live.

For Gene Dillon fifth-grade teacher Alison Tisdell, the value went well beyond the release itself. She said the program gets kids outdoors and teaches them to care for fish and the environment. Bemidji Trout in the Classroom coordinator Jim McCracken said students take pride in raising the fish and that early exposure to the outdoors can leave a lasting impression.

The work also fits into a broader local fisheries picture. The Minnesota DNR says Bemidji area fisheries staff manage 113 fishing lakes and 220 miles of rivers and streams across Beltrami, Clearwater, northern Cass and northern Hubbard counties. That makes programs like this more than an environmental side project. They help train the next generation of anglers, lake users and watershed stewards in a region where water shapes daily life and the local economy.

The Bemidji-area Trout in the Classroom chapter has operated since 2008 and grown from one location to eight, with each site now releasing trout every year. Gene Dillon’s classroom was the first in Minnesota to take part in the program, a sign of how long the school has been tied to outdoor science in the Bemidji area.

The Minnesota DNR’s trout catch-and-release guidance reinforces the same lesson students practiced at the river: handle fish gently, keep them in the water as much as possible and release them quickly. In Pinewood, that lesson became a real-world test of responsibility, science and respect for the resource that sustains fishing across Beltrami County.