07-06-2007, 02:10 PM
CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is applauding the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service's June 13 determination that listing the Colorado River cutthroat trout as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act is not warranted at this time.
"We are extremely delighted to hear this news," said Mike Stone, fisheries chief for the Game and Fish. "The determining is the result of a lot of hard work of many agencies including the Wyoming Game and Fish."
In making this finding, the service considered the best available scientific information and relied heavily on a rangewide status report provided by the Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Conservation Team. The team is composed of biologists from Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Game and Fish and the service.
The report describes the current rangewide status of the Colorado River cutthroat trout in the United States and was peer reviewed by five recognized experts in the field of fishery biology, conservation biology and/or genetics. The results of the peer review found that the status report provided sound scientific data to use as the basis of this finding.
The rangewide status report found that at least 285 Colorado River cutthroat trout conservation populations collectively occupy about 1,796 miles of stream habitat in 42 watersheds in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
The Colorado River cutthroat trout was native to the Green and Little Snake river drainages of southwest Wyoming. The Game and Fish has actively worked to restore habitat for the species in the LaBarge Creek drainage and the on creeks on the west slope of the Sierra Madres.
"We are extremely delighted to hear this news," said Mike Stone, fisheries chief for the Game and Fish. "The determining is the result of a lot of hard work of many agencies including the Wyoming Game and Fish."
In making this finding, the service considered the best available scientific information and relied heavily on a rangewide status report provided by the Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Conservation Team. The team is composed of biologists from Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Game and Fish and the service.
The report describes the current rangewide status of the Colorado River cutthroat trout in the United States and was peer reviewed by five recognized experts in the field of fishery biology, conservation biology and/or genetics. The results of the peer review found that the status report provided sound scientific data to use as the basis of this finding.
The rangewide status report found that at least 285 Colorado River cutthroat trout conservation populations collectively occupy about 1,796 miles of stream habitat in 42 watersheds in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
The Colorado River cutthroat trout was native to the Green and Little Snake river drainages of southwest Wyoming. The Game and Fish has actively worked to restore habitat for the species in the LaBarge Creek drainage and the on creeks on the west slope of the Sierra Madres.