Conservation
Although the greenback cutthroat was considered extinct by the 1930s, in 1957 a population was discovered in Rocky Mountain National Park in the Big Thompson River, a tributary of the South Platte. Additional populations were found in 1965 and 1970, making possible the listing of the subspecies as endangered under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Recovery efforts for the greenback cutthroat by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, assisted by Trout Unlimited, are ongoing and seemed to have made it possible to upgrade its status to threatened. However, it was recently determined that due to insufficient study of the original stock most if not all animals in the reintroduction program were actually the similar Colorado River cutthroat trout. Catch and release fishing of the greenback cutthroat is currently permitted in parts of both the South Platte and Arkansas River basins. The Bozeman National Fish Hatchery was a key player in the recovery of the greenback cutthroat trout.
Read more about this topic: Greenback Cutthroat Trout
Famous quotes containing the word conservation:
“The putting into force of laws which shall secure the conservation of our resources, as far as they may be within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, including the more important work of saving and restoring our forests and the great improvement of waterways, are all proper government functions which must involve large expenditure if properly performed.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.”
—Aristide Briand (1862–1932)