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Agency: Trout Not an Endangered Species

Posted on: Wednesday, 18 July 2007, 18:25 CDT

For the third time in six years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the Yellowstone cutthroat trout does not merit federal classification as a threatened or endangered species.

While fish numbers have declined substantially, "stable, viable and self-sustaining populations of the fish are widely distributed throughout its historic range" in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Nevada, the agency said Tuesday.

Environmentalists who had pushed for the listing said they were disappointed but not surprised.

A failure to list the fish means "status quo, at best," said Steve Kelly of Montana Ecosystems Defense Council, one of the groups seeking the listing since 1998. The group's original request to list the fish was rejected by the Fish and WIldlife Service in 2001. A court challenge forced a second look in 2005, and the agency again said the trout did not warrant listing in February 2006.

State governments lack the financing and political will to rebuild the fish populations, Kelly said, adding that the subspecies faces numerous threats, including drought, crossbreeding with non-native fish and a loss of habitat.

A listing would have provided some federal money and incentives to try to boost populations rather than just support existing ones, Kelly told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in a story published Wednesday.

Michael Garrity, president of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, blamed political interference from the Bush Administration for the refusal to list the fish.

"It seems to be another example of phony science," he said.

Yellowstone National Park has been considered the biggest stronghold for the cutthroat that bears its name. However, Yellowstone cutthroat populations have declined dramatically in the park because of predation by non-native lake trout, whirling disease and drought.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said it has serious concerns about the park's population and will monitor the situation closely but believes the Yellowstone cutthroat "will persist in this ecosystem, at least for the foreseeable future."

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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