Part 1: Something Fishy
The Greenback Cutthroat Trout of Colorado was once a prolific fish in the streams of the South Platte River Basin. That all changed with the arrival of European Americans. Since then it has been spread across the state, hybridized, squeezed out by non-native fish, placed on the Endangered Species List, named the State Fish of Colorado, and thought to be extinct. After many efforts to re-establish this fish, it took a college student, a PhD student to sort out the details and set the path for the Greenback Cutthroat Trout to regain its place in its home river basin.
The River Radius Podcast · University of Colorado, Dr Kevin Rogers, Dick Jefferies, Boyd Wright, Dr Jessica Metcalf, Metcalf Lab, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado State University, Rocky Mountain Flycasters, Trout Unlimited
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Show Notes
Before Manifest Destiny arrived in North America, the Greenback Cutthroat Trout only lived in the South Platte River Basin of the Southern Rockies in Colorado. This fish was beat up as it lived in the streams where Europeans first inhabited Colorado. It was then accidentally saved from extinction over 100 years ago by an unknowing entrepreneur who put it up high in a mountain stream where it was left alone for 100 plus years. In the 20th Century, fish enthusiasts and researchers began work to help this fish recover, except they lacked the absolute clarity of what fish was what in the now genetically mixed fish populations and streams of Colorado. When a PhD student decided to perform research on the historical path of the fish, many details emerged that were unexpected and that changed and corrected the path of recovery for this fish. This is a story of raising a nation, changing the natural landscape and then working to repair the harm. This is a story of the resilience of life and of the dedication of a group of people who work to bring this fish back home.
THE RIVER RADIUS