Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Wednesday made a big splash in Arizona with an announcement that the Apache trout is finally off the federal list of threatened and endangered species.
Haaland was set to join Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, White Mountain Apache Tribe Chair Kasey Velasquez and a host of others in Mesa, Arizonza, to mark the long-anticipated acknowledgment of the Apache trout’s recovery.
“After more than 50 years of devoted efforts among federal, state, Tribal and non-governmental organizations, the incredible recovery of the Apache trout reminds us of the transformational power that collaborative conservation efforts, grounded in Indigenous Knowledge, can have on fish and wildlife,” Haaland said in prepared remarks.
The Apache trout is the first sport fish and the first trout to graduate from the Endangered Species Act list due to recovery.
