A couple weeks ago, volunteers with the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited headed to the Upper Hermosa Creek area to take the next step in the process to reestablish Colorado River cutthroat trout to the area./Photo by Glenn May

Back from the brink

Cutthroat reintroduction program moves slowly, but surely

by Tracy Chamberlin

What worked for the tortoise just might work for the trout – slow and steady.

It’s been decades since the Colorado River cutthroat trout, a native of the Southwest, first became the focus of conservation plans on Hermosa Creek.

Jim White, an aquatic biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, helped with Phase 1 of those plans in 1992 during a project to reintroduce cutthroats from Upper Hermosa Creek down to the Sig Creek campground, and that population is now thriving.

“When it comes down to it, I’ve actually been involved my entire career in one phase or another,” he said.

After overharvesting brought the cutthroats to the brink in the mid-1800s, other trout species were brought in, like the brook trout from the Eastern United States, to fill the void.

Instead of supplementing the local population, these nonnative species began taking over the waters of the Southwest and confining the cutthroats to isolated headwaters and lakes.

Catch and release? Currently, the Colorado River cutthroat trout have catch and release status below the confluence of the Upper Hermosa Creek to the East Fork of Hermosa Creek. The focus area of the current reintroduction project, which runs from Sig Creek down to where the Upper Hermosa Creek trail begins, is the only area that would be devoid of fish for the next couple of years, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials. The area will have restricted access when rotenone applications are underway, which is scheduled for the spring of 2015. There will be a public announcement when that occurs. Weather like heavy rains could effect the timeline, but Parks and Wildlife or the U.S. Forest Service will let the public know if that’s the case. Anglers can fish above or below that focus area; and, can keep brook and rainbow trout while the project moves forward.

Currently, the cutthroats are considered a “species of concern” by the state, but they are not on any federal lists.

One goal of the reintroduction program is to keep them off the Environmental Protection Agency’s “threatened” or “endangered” lists.

If the cutthroat ends up on federal lists, it’s not just a signal that the species is in trouble; it could lead to restrictions on economic and recreational activities. This designation would also take the process out of local hands.

“We want to prevent the problem from coming to a crisis stage,” explained Glenn May, secretary for the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited, a national organization at the forefront of local, state and national fisheries restoration work.

Reestablishing the cutthroat population in the headwaters of Upper Hermosa Creek to the East Fork area is a joint venture locally between Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service. The effort to reestablish the fish in its native habitat all along the Colorado River drainage is a region-wide agreement between wildlife agencies in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

Currently, the local focus area, which will take a couple of years to address starting next summer, runs from the Sig Creek campground down to where the Upper Hermosa Creek trail begins.

Each segment of the river is like a pocket of positive gains on the ultimate goal of creating a safe haven along the Upper Hermosa Creek area.

“We’ll have 20 miles of cutthroats once this work is done,” explained Buck Skillen, president of the Five Rivers Chapter.

A couple weeks ago, volunteers with the Five Rivers Chapter headed to the Upper Hermosa Creek area to take the next step in the process.

They spent a Saturday assisting the Forest Service by breaching beaver dams that serve as hiding spots for nonnative species, like brook and rainbow trout.

The group also installed “beaver deceivers,” perforated pipes that prevent the beavers from re-blocking the streams while keeping the water moving; and, planted willows and grass to strengthen the creek channel and fight erosion.

The next step is to remove the non-native brook and rainbow trout from a section of the East Branch of Hermosa Creek.

In order to take that step, the area needs to be treated with a compound called rotenone. The compound, which occurs naturally in the derris root, a legume plant, and breaks down quickly in the 4
environment, interferes with the cellular respiration of gill-breathing animals. The fish rise to the surface of the water in an attempt to get air and can be easily caught.

White calls it “draconian” but necessary, adding it’s the most effective and safest way to restore the cutthroats to their native habitat. “All other alternatives, simply put, don’t work,” he said.

It’s used in small amounts, and doesn’t affect mammals or birds. White said it breaks down quickly, can be neutralized and is temporary. That is why it is allowed on Hermosa Creek, which was one of the first drainages outside wilderness areas or national parks designated “Outstanding Water” by the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission.

White said it usually takes two treatments because the habitat in the Upper Hermosa is so complex, and the cutthroats cannot be reintroduced while the nonnative species are still present.

“The more complex it is,” he added, “the more complicated it is to remove the nonnative fish.”

Once the treatments are complete, the project should move rather quickly and cutthroats could be restored about a month later.

Addressing the beavers can create another point of contention. With so many nooks and crannies in a beaver dam, it’s a haven for hideaways.

White said beavers do wonderful things for the environment; the issue is with the ponded up water, adding that the process of having to breach them or perhaps even relocate beavers is temporary.

But it is one of several necessary steps that keeps the native cutthroat from being overtaken by nonnatives.

After decades of work behind them and years of work still ahead, it might seem like they’re swimming upstream but, according to Skillen, each step needs to be thoroughly followed so as not to risk failure of the whole program.

If any of those steps are skipped or rushed, the non-natives could be left behind, and the cutthroats could be threatened all over again.

“This is the only way we can address the nonnative fish issue and reestablish native cutthroats,” White said.