Judge halts Paiute cutthroat trout recovery plan
By Denny Walsh, Sacramento Bee
A Sacramento federal judge has quashed a joint federal-state plan to improve conditions for a rare High Sierra fish, ruling that an auger driven by a gasoline-powered generator cannot be used in designated wilderness areas.
For more than 25 years, government agencies have sought by various means to increase the population of the Paiute cutthroat trout and restore this rare creature to its historical range.
Six years ago, U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. ordered a halt to the state’s plan to poison one stretch of a High Sierra creek and a lake as part of the recovery project.
It was Damrell again stepping in to block the latest plan with a permanent injunction based on the federal Wilderness Act.
Spokespersons for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Fish and Game vowed Friday that the agencies will continue to work together to find a way to accomplish the recovery and restoration of the Paiute cutthroat trout.
“Our team of lawyers are currently reviewing the order to see what we can do to move forward,” said Fish and Game spokesman Kevin Thomas.
Govt. agencies fighting other govt. agencies. Job security for lawyers. Ridiculous expenses for citizen tax payers.
Be interesting to see what a competent long term study of the Upper Truckee River Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project’s sustainability is.
I think it is tragic to see what the federal and state agencies are doing to the fish in the lakes and rivers of Tahoe. Netting, gutting and throwing back into the water, all in the name and planting of the Lahontan cutthroat trout.
What is wrong with this country?
Finally! Some how these Fish and Wildlife wackjobs think it is O.K. too; kill the Lahontan Cutthroat in that creek, which are a threatened species, the Paiute Trout that are already in that streach of water, and everything else in that water shed to increase the population, not range, of the Paiute Trout (They already exist in this section of stream). The use of chemicals and power equipment in that area is totally inconsistant with the Wilderness Act. These same folks have already poisoned Silver CreeK, Wolf Creek, and Mill Creek in that region 15 years ago, and those bodies of water and half of the total miles of streams on the east slope in the Carson Iceberg are still off limits to fishing. The Paiute are not in danger of extinction, they exist in several creeks in the region including Coyote Creek, Fish Valley Creek and Others. This is just another make-work pipe dream for idealistic bureaucrats. The area is remote and gets very few visitors, it is the best wild trout fishery in Alpine County.