The Big Wood River has undergone some big changes in recent years, including a big overall drop in average stream flows and major flooding events.

How these changes and others could affect the river’s health is part of an ongoing Wood River Land Trust project monitoring aquatic macroinvertebrates, a group of critters including insects, snails, crayfish and worms. The project is measuring the abundance of specific insect populations at six sites in the valley.

Cory McCaffrey is the river program director for the Wood River Land Trust. For three years he has headed up collections and surveys that measure the prevalence of select orders of the river’s benthic, or bottom-dwelling, macroinvertebrates, as well as other factors.

“Macroinvertebrates are a critical part of the food web because t

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