05-24-2008, 08:48 PM
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[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]THE GOLDEN TROUT PROJECT[/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]![[Image: golden_trout_wilderness.jpg]](http://www.caltrout.org/pages/conservation/images/golden_trout_wilderness.jpg)
Many people don't even know that California has a state fish -- but the California Golden Trout has held that honor since 1947. Also known as the Volcano Creek Golden Trout, this exquisitely-colored little fish has plied the waters of the High Sierras for millennia. Despite its state-fish status, California Goldens are imperiled and have been listed as a "Species of Concern" by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service since 1991. [/size][/#008000][/font][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Of the many factors threatening the California Golden Trout, hybridization is perhaps the biggest. Years of stocking non-native rainbows in or near its native range (the South Fork of the Kern and Golden Trout Creek) has led to a genetic dilution. Unchecked, our state fish might be bred out of existence. CalTrout is determined not to let that happen. [/size][/#008000][/font][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]![[Image: golden_trout_project.jpg]](http://www.caltrout.org/pages/conservation/images/golden_trout_project.jpg)
CalTrout, working with Trout Unlimited and the California Department of Fish and Game instituted the Golden Trout Project as an ongoing effort to help preserve this native fish. In 2004, volunteers were taken into the Golden Trout Wilderness to help catch and test fish for the purposes of properly isolating and identifying genetically pure strains. [/size][/#008000][/font][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]In 2005 volunteers helped maintain cattle exclusion fences, repair headcut banks, collect data, and remove gill nets. [/size][/#008000][/font][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]The DFG, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed a conservation agreement in 2004 to protect the California Golden Trout by dedicating $1.3 million over the next five years toward projects that will benefit the state fish. This project is a crucial first step on the road to identifying and thus preserving our state fish. [/size][/#008000][/font]
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[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]THE GOLDEN TROUT PROJECT[/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]
Many people don't even know that California has a state fish -- but the California Golden Trout has held that honor since 1947. Also known as the Volcano Creek Golden Trout, this exquisitely-colored little fish has plied the waters of the High Sierras for millennia. Despite its state-fish status, California Goldens are imperiled and have been listed as a "Species of Concern" by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service since 1991. [/size][/#008000][/font][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Of the many factors threatening the California Golden Trout, hybridization is perhaps the biggest. Years of stocking non-native rainbows in or near its native range (the South Fork of the Kern and Golden Trout Creek) has led to a genetic dilution. Unchecked, our state fish might be bred out of existence. CalTrout is determined not to let that happen. [/size][/#008000][/font][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]CalTrout, working with Trout Unlimited and the California Department of Fish and Game instituted the Golden Trout Project as an ongoing effort to help preserve this native fish. In 2004, volunteers were taken into the Golden Trout Wilderness to help catch and test fish for the purposes of properly isolating and identifying genetically pure strains. [/size][/#008000][/font][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]In 2005 volunteers helped maintain cattle exclusion fences, repair headcut banks, collect data, and remove gill nets. [/size][/#008000][/font][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]The DFG, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed a conservation agreement in 2004 to protect the California Golden Trout by dedicating $1.3 million over the next five years toward projects that will benefit the state fish. This project is a crucial first step on the road to identifying and thus preserving our state fish. [/size][/#008000][/font][signature]