The Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday that the much-litigated Rio Grande cutthroat trout does not merit listing as either threatened or endangered.
Following repeated study, the federal agency determined that the subspecies of cutthroat trout found in 119 high-altitude stream locations in New Mexico and southern Colorado remains hearty enough without need of federal protection.
“The 119 populations are distributed across a wide geographic area, providing sufficient redundancy to reduce the likelihood of large-scale extirpation due to a single catastrophic event,” the FWS reported. “Furthermore, the Rio Grande cutthroat trout Conservation Team has a demonstrated track record of responding to negative events to protect and even expand populations in the aftermath of large-scale changes to streams.”
The FWS reported that the primary threats affecting the Rio Grande cutthroat trout are hybridization, competition and predation from nonnative trout. Wildfires, water temperature changes and flooding, all of which may be exacerbated by climate change, can also put the fish at risk.
