From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
Can the state’s last remaining native fish survive the human impacts on their stream?
The Rocky Mountain Field Institute wants a $100,000 state grant to improve the habitat of Bear Creek, west of Colorado Springs. The creek is home to the only remaining population of greenback cutthroat trout in Colorado. The trout were discovered last year through genetic testing by the University of Colorado. Bear Creek also is a popular recreation site, and roads, hikers, cyclists and other outdoor activities. “It’s the only native greenback population in the state,” explained Doug Krieger, aquatic biologist for Parks and Wildlife, at last week’s Arkansas Basin Roundtable meeting. “We want to protect this mother lode of fish.”
The roundtable approved the grant, which now goes to the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
The trout live in a 4-mile stretch of Bear Creek. They apparently were stocked there in the 1800s, because the species actually is native to the South Platte River basin. Native species of greenback cutthroat trout in the state’s three other river basins are believed to be extinct or genetically altered by contact with other species. The state last year moved 64 of the fish to fisheries to breed more stock, Krieger added.
The grant money would stabilize a draw that is responsible for loading most of the sediment into Bear Creek, restore a portion of the stream and develop a plan to take steps to reduce sediment loading from High Drive, which runs adjacent to the creek.
Several recreational groups are cooperating in the project.
More endangered/threatened species coverage here.