Conserving Native Fish, and Saving the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout, in Yellowstone National Park
John Ellsworth will give presentations on saving the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout at Trout Unlimited chapter meetings in Idaho Falls and Pocatello. The Idaho Falls meeting is January 11, 2012 and Pocatello will be on January 12. John is the Vice President of the Idaho Council of Trout Unlimited and is coordinating the Idaho portion of the three state effort (ID, MT, WY) on the Yellowstone Lake cutthroat trout restoration efforts that have become a top priority for Trout Unlimited.
Native fish conservation is now a major emphasis in Yellowstone National Park. The native Yellowstone cutthroat trout population in Yellowstone Lake and its ecosystem is now reduced to less than 10% of its historic population due primarily to depredation by illegally introduced lake trout in Yellowstone Lake. There are literally hundreds of thousands of lake trout estimated in the system now, and each one consumes an average of 41 native cutthroat trout annually!
The National Park Service has accelerated and augmented their efforts to suppress lake trout populations by employing commercial gill and trap netting. Hydro-acoustic telemetry tagging and tracking of lake trout in Yellowstone Lake began in summer 2011 in order to determine lake trout movements and spawning beds locations.
Under a proposed Memorandum of Understanding with Yellowstone National Park, a coalition team of representatives from Trout Unlimited (ID, WY, and MT Councils and chapters as well as TU national), the National Parks Conservation Association, the US Geological Survey, and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, is working to conserve the park’s native fish and save the Yellowstone cutthroat trout. This work is part of the TU National Leadership Council Western Native Trout Workgroup.
The coalition’s main goal is to raise funds to support Yellowstone National Park’s efforts to conserve native fish and save the Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Trout Unlimited Idaho Council and Chapters have raised significant funds already, but much more are needed. Opportunities and options for individual and group donations to help support these efforts will be described and made available after the presentations.
If you can’t make it to one of John’s presentations, or just don’t want to wait to help save the native Yellowstone cutthroat trout in our nation’s first and most beloved National Park, please consider making a donation now. You can send a check made out to: Idaho Council of Trout Unlimited, P.O. Box 1971, Boise, ID 83701 (write “Save the Yellowstone Cutthroats” on the memo line of the check). Suggested donation levels are tied to prices of the specific equipment needed to complete the telemetry tracking research: $400 (buys one standard hydro-acoustic telemetry tag), $700 (buys one depth-recording hydro-acoustic telemetry tag), and $1,400 (buys one signal receiver), but of course any amount you can afford to donate is deeply appreciated! For further information, contact John Ellsworth, Vice President of Idaho Council of Trout Unlimited, at johnsworth123 at yahoo dot com. Thank you in advance for helping us “Save the Yellowstone Cutthroats”!
