Groups Sue Dubya to List Bonneville Cutthroats

[JoseCuervo]

Once again Dubya comes down in favor of "grazing, water diversion, logging and mining" instead of Hunting and Fishing....,

Groups file lawsuit notice over Bonneville cutthroat
By MEAD GRUVER
Associated Press Writer

CHEYENNE (AP) -- Four environmental groups said Wednesday they will file suit over a decision not to list the Bonneville cutthroat trout under the Endangered Species Act.

The Biodiversity Legal Foundation filed in 1998 a request to list the subspecies as threatened. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its decision not to list in October 2001.

A 60-day notice of intent to sue was submitted by the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and Pacific Rivers Council.


The groups say they want the Bonneville cutthroat — Utah's state fish — listed because it inhabits less than 10 percent of its former range.

"That's been because of a combination of habitat destruction and introduction and spread of nonnative trout. Those threats continue to impact the populations," said Noah Greenwald, biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity.

The threats, according to the groups, include competition, predation and hybridization caused by other trout species, and habitat loss and degradation caused by grazing, water diversion, logging and mining.

The Fish and Wildlife Service concluded three years ago that listing was unwarranted because 291 populations of Bonneville trout remain in 852 miles of streams and 70,059 acres of lakes. Those streams are mainly in Utah but some are in southwest Wyoming, southern Idaho and eastern Nevada.

Greenwald said many of the 291 populations are not genetically pure. "So you wouldn't count those. And many others of those are in one to two miles of streams — streams you could step over," he said.

He said the groups will sue unless the Fish and Wildlife Service reverses its listing decision, which he considers unlikely.

Randy Radant, chief of aquatics in the Utah Department of Natural Resources' wildlife division, said state and federal agencies working with landowners and others have accomplished more to help the Bonneville cutthroat trout than if the subspecies had been listed.

"We felt quite good about some of the progress we're making," he said. "We're continuing to work on achieving some of the elements of the conservation plan we have for Bonneville cutthroat trout."

The plan has been in effect since the late 1990s. The efforts include genetic research, protecting core populations, establishing brood stock and no longer stocking other trout species where Bonneville cutthroat are known to live.

The Bonneville cutthroat is one of over a dozen species of cutthroat, which have dark spots and a red streak under the jaw. They rarely exceed 5 pounds. Bonneville cutthroat have dimmer markings than other subspecies.

The subspecies can be found roughly around the perimeter of Utah's Bonneville Basin. As a lake referred to as Lake Bonneville began drying up around 8,000 years ago — eventually becoming the Great Salt Lake — the fish were separated into five regions, according to the Western Native Trout Campaign Web site.

Biologists believed until about 30 years ago that genetically pure Bonneville cutthroat had gone extinct. But several populations were found.

Petitions to list the fish in 1979 and 1992 were unsuccessful.