A federal judge has directed the U.S. Department of the Interior and an irrigation corporation to stop diverting water from the Upper Clark Fork River near Deer Lodge to prevent harm to endangered bull trout.

U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order in a suit brought by two organizations, Save the Bull Trout and Alliance for the Wild Rockies, that alleges Interior and West Side Ditch Company are violating the Endangered Species Act in order to preserve the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site .

The National Park Service-operated historic site is a 1,618-acre working cattle ranch that was dedicated to commemorate the country’s frontier cattle era.

According to court filings, the federal government irrigates more than 400 acres of Gran

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