Ashley National Forest, UT, High Uintas Wilderness-Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Habitat Enhancement

Zusammenfassung

The Ashley National Forest in cooperation with Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) proposes to restore genetically pure Colorado River cutthroat trout (CRCT; Onchorhynchus clarki pleuriticus) populations to suitable habitats within the High Uintas Wilderness. Implementation of this proposal would require the use of rotenone (a fish toxicant) to remove competing and hybridizing nonnative fish species from selected streams and lakes within the High Uintas Wilderness on the Roosevelt/Duchesne Ranger District. Nonnative fish species to be removed are primarily brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Onchorhynchus clarki bouvieri) and hybridized cutthroat trout. Removal of nonnative fish is necessary to enhance habitat and restore genetically pure CRCT populations to suitable habitats within the High Uintas Wilderness. Headwater subdrainages and basins proposed to be treated and monitored over a period of ten or more years include selected lakes and associated stream segments in the Garfield Basin and Swasey Hole in the Yellowstone River drainage, Fish Creek (a tributary to Moon Lake), Ottoson Basin and Oweep Creek in the Lake Fork River drainage, and Fa