Efforts under way to forever save Lahontan cutthroat trout
By Kathryn Reed
Catching five species of trout in a day is an incredible experience for an angler. Just ask Victor Babbitt.
Babbitt, who owns Tahoe Fly Fishing Outfitters in South Lake Tahoe, was at the Feb. 21 open house where people could learn about the proposal to turn 32 miles of the Upper Truckee River and its tributaries into a federally recognized wild and scenic area.
“I don’t think there is a negative side,” Babbitt told Lake Tahoe News. “When my kids are my age I want them to have a place to go to for sure.”
Organizations want this area of the Lake Tahoe Basin classifed as wild and scenic.
Trout Unlimited and California Trout hosted two open houses this week to inform the public about their desire to seek Wild and Scenic River Designation for the Upper Truckee River through Meiss Meadows. The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and Pacific Southwest Region of the U.S. Forest Service recommended this in a 1990 management plan and subsequent 1999 report.
But it takes an act of Congress to get the designation. That is what the groups are seeking.
It’s the Lahontan cutthroat trout that makes this area so special. They are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. And this area of the Lake Tahoe Basin in one of the few places to find them.
Catch and release is the rule with a single-fly barbless lure. And then fishing is only allowed in the summer months.
Trout Unlimited and CalTrout at a minimum want 7.3 miles of the Upper Truckee River to receive the federal designation. But they believe expanding that to 32 miles to include the area around Round, Dardanelles, Showers, and Meiss lakes, and other creeks in the watershed would be better for the fish and ecosystem.
The designation usually means a quarter mile area on either side of the waterway is protected as well.
Jenny Hatch with CalTrout said, “It’s really about keeping it the way it is.”
Hatch said the desire for the larger area is because the fish population is growing and this will ensure what her group considers proper management of the natural resources.
While the Forest Service basically manages the area today as though the designation is in place, without it, the federal agency can change its protocol.
Dave Lass with Trout Unlimited said the cost to create a management plan if the designation goes through was estimated to be less than $50,000 in 1999 when the last Forest Service report came out.
He believes groups like his and others could work with the Forest Service to create a public-private partnership so dollars are not diverted from local resources.
Lass foresees meadow restoration, removing conifer encroachment, improving mountain bike trails, and putting in signage as projects that could occur.
“It’s not building roads or more trails. You will still have to sweat to get in there,” Lass told Lake Tahoe News.
At the Wild and Scenic Film Festival on March 9 in Stateline a short film about the subject will be aired.
It’s definitely possible this area, which is most easily accessed off Luther Pass, could see more visitors. Right now the number of visitors is not limited in terms of day hikers, fishermen or backpackers.
The designation could also open commercial guide service to the area. This is something Babbitt did in this location about a dozen years ago, but has been unable to get a permit from the Forest Service since then.
No one from the Forest Service filtered into the Feb. 21 open house while Lake Tahoe News was there. The second meeting was Feb. 22 in Markleeville.
While support from supervisors in Alpine and El Dorado counties is not necessary to go forward, officials with the conservation groups recognize it would help their cause to have it. No date has been set when those boards will discuss the issue again. October was the last time the county officials discussed the designation at a public meeting.
Hatch said she would like the issue to be part of the annual environmental summit in August, including tours of the area.
The goal of the trout groups is to have the designation in two years.
For more information or to make a comment, email dlass@tu.org.
Seems me Wild and Scenic means, go it alone, be prepared to take care of yourself and enjoy the “wild” country. Not commercially guided trips! Sounds like there is another money making motive here.
This may not the be the place to post this, however, the information needs to circulate to the people reading this article:
FYI… Plans are already underway in Lake Tahoe to ‘thin’ the Mackinaw population. The way they (Contracted Troller) are doing this is by dropping commercial fishing nets to ‘selectively’ target the mackinaw. After that, the USFS contracted troller takes the fish into the middle are of the lake, and throw them through a meat grinder. Strange I know! But this is happening right now on Lake Tahoe. It is not possible to drop a net into our lake and select which fish gets snagged, that is for the Rainbow, Brown, Lohaontan Trout and Mountain Whitefish to figure out… Question is, does anyone care enough to stop this, or is it generally thought to be a good thing?
“Removing conifer encroachment. . .” Now there’s a ten dollar euphemism. So to designate an are as “wild” and scenic, you cut down some trees and whatnot. Seems kind of counterintuitive but whatever.
BIGGER FISH EAT SMALLER FISH, THEY SHOULD JUST LEAVE THE FISH ALONE, REALLY, WHO ARE THEY BOTHERING BESIDES OTHER FISH?
DOESN’T ANY LIVING THING HAVE A RIGHT ANYMORE?
MACKS ARE SOME THE BEST FISH YOU WOULD EVER WANT SMOKE,NATURAL FATS,PURE PROTIEN.
SOMEONE NEEDS GO WASHINGTON,ASK THEY CUT OFF ALL FUNDING FOR THESE KINDA PROGRAMS.
I had fished Round Lake many years ago and it was a great fishing lake, having caught many cuts of good size. A few years ago the Department of Fish and Game set gill nets in the lake to kill the fish off in order to replant the lake with the Lahontan Cutthroats. I do not know if the replanting has taken place. I would suspect the gill nets were not selective with which species of fish were trapped and killed.
I believe El Dorado County and Alpine County need to support particular sensitive areas. A Wild and Scenic designation is important, along with catch and release barbless single hook restrictions. With all the lakes and streams in these two counties, it would be enjoyable to have open public areas to catch and release fishing for large fish without the conjestion of people. In other words, trophy fishing areas in which to enjoy and will also bring in serious fishermen to the area to recreate and support the local economy.