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VERNAL — Colorado River cutthroat trout are a prized fish throughout Utah, but habitat loss and the introduction of nonnative competitors has caused dramatic declines in their populations throughout the entire Western United States.
Biologists with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources along with the U.S. Forest Service are planning to treat the waters of the High Uinta mountains in order to cleanse them of nonnative fish and reintroduce Colorado River cutthroats, according to a recent news release. They hope that this will help combat concerns about the fish’s future and keep them from being listed as an endangered species.
If the proposal is approved, the biologists will cleanse nonnative brook trout from four drainages on the South Slope of the Uinta Mountains between the years of 2022-2034.
The Division of Wildlife Resources along with Ashley National Forest workers will be treating designated streams and a couple of lakes with a chemical that will remove established brook trout in the area, the news release explained. The chemical comes from the roots of a tropical plant in the bean family and is poisonous to fish but not people, pets, or wildlife. They will be using it in extremely low quantities, ensuring it will be especially harmless to all but the brook trout.
Once treatments are done, they will restock cutthroat trout in the fall in designated bodies of water. Another two or three years after that and the cutthroats will be robust enough for fishing to continue.
Concerns about cutthroats entering the endangered species list are not new. The United States Department of Agriculture released a study in 2008 which revealed that the Colorado River cutthroat was endangered enough to be petitioned for the endangered species list. Once teeming with life throughout Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, the cutthroat has experienced habitat alteration and fragmentation, nonnative competitor introduction and emerging climate change threats. Utah’s DWR hopes that this measure might help prevent further downward progression for the sensitive species.
Anglers need not fear a lack of trout to fish. Even with the removal of brook trout from those areas, regional conservation outreach manager for the DWR Tonya Kieffer-Selby said that they will still be fishable throughout hundreds of miles of streams in the high Uintas, along with other species of trout. "Brook trout will still be stocked in many of the same places," she says, "just not in the four proposed project watersheds."
The areas proposed for treatment include the following:
- Fall Creek — 8 miles of streams and 43 acres of lakes
- Oweep Creek — 12 miles of streams and 3 acres of lakes
- Ottoson Basin — 5.5 miles of streams and 37 acres of lakes
- Garfield Basin — 13.5 miles of streams and 176 acres of lakes
Even though treatments aren’t going to begin until 2022, they need to begin the planning process now, according to the news release. Logistically, the process will be very challenging.
"We recognize some anglers target these locations for brook trout," Trina Hedrick, regional aquatics manager for the DWR, said, "But we had to pick large expansive areas that had natural barriers to prevent re-invasion and to ensure cutthroat trout would survive. This is an opportunity to restore Colorado River cutthroat trout in their native range, protect the species in Utah and provide anglers with dedicated areas to fish for them."
To find other areas to fish in the meantime, visit the DWR’s map of fishing destinations in the state. Questions about the treatment may be directed to the DWR's Northeastern Region office at 435-781-9453.
