By helicopter, horseback, and the sweat of their brow, a team of biologists from the
US Fish and Wildlife Service, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, and the U.S.
Forest Service endeavor to return to threatened Gila trout to its former
range in the American Southwest. Whether stocking large adult Gila trout or
freshly fertilized eggs, the aims are the same. Expand the rare trout's range, get
it off the threatened species list, and create more opportunity for anglers to
catch this pretty, coppery-yellow trout found nowhere else in the world except
for the headwaters of the Gila River. It's a beautiful fish you know. Its
coloration, its copper color the way it looks in the water while it swims by is
just amazing. And working in the Gila wilderness: it's first
wilderness within the United States which is kind of a special
place to work. It's one of those things working with an endangered species
that's really special. You get to put all of your effort into trying to conserve a
species to try to get it off the endangered species list.
We're looking at a fish that has probably lost a lot of genetic
diversity, so when we're breeding fish in in Mora National Fish Hatchery and we're
raising them there, we need to make sure that we're not we're not spawning fish
to lose even more genetic diversity. So we can try to conserve as much of the
genetics as possible between lineages and among lineages. The Gila trout was
one of the the first species listed it was listed under the precursor to the
Endangered Species Act. So that was I think in 1966, and then listed as
endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1973. A lot of work was done by
the Fish and Wildlife Service and the states of Arizona and New Mexico, and it was
down listed in 2006. And at that time the Fish and Wildlife Service implemented a
special rule that allowed for angling, so that's why we're able to provide angling
for this trout even though it is listed under ESA. The current status is as threatened.
The Gila trout are basically an icon to the southwest, and that's really,
to me, is what it means is wilderness and wild places. This is the
first designated wilderness in the country, and Gila trout are result of
that designation. So I think that the unique experience that is offered to
anglers. I don't think that can be found anywhere else. And I
think that's what really draws people here. It's not like your
other typical fish. It doesn't necessarily get as big, but it takes you
into these places that are so remote and so beautiful that most people don't ever
get to them. It's kind of neat that the foresight of these
people like Aldo Leopold, that designated this, they're actually
what gives me my job today, and what makes this possible: this whole
recovery effort. Because without that, Gila trout wouldn't be around
so really I think that's what it symbolizes, and I
think that anglers and then the local people need to really take
account of that and really appreciate what we have here.
It just strikes me that this is a journey. We're here with the
main biologists for Gila trout from the several offices: the Forest Service the
Fish and Wildlife Service, New Mexico Game and Fish, and doing something
we've never tried before. Putting eggs directly into the gravel from hatchery
but fish that we spawn with wild parents and taking a stream that's currently
empty and putting Gila trout back now to see how they do. And when you look
at this landscape and walk up here it is a journey. You come from the valley
floor that's dry and desert and then come up here and there's actually water
and now there's gonna be trout too, which is pretty neat. One of the huge
challenges of the Gila is it's rough country, and because it's rough
that's probably why it's been protected, and now we put protections here. It
has limited influence from man. The downfall is that it's tough. It's
tough for us to get in and out of habitat for Gila trout, and when we're
trying to bring in fish we need to bring in mule teams, big pack strings, a lot of
equipment. And right now with the fires, it's been harder to get up the trails.
There's blowdown and stuff like that. So being able to downsize to eggs, they're
very light and easy to carry. The neat part about eyed eggs is they don't even have
to be in water. So water is heavy. We can carry them in wet paper towels on
ice. They'll do very, very well. And then I'll plant them directly. So
it's another tool in the toolbox that helps us get to these inaccessible streams
and help them recover faster.
It's the experience of fishing Gila trout, and to experience this country
in the Southwest. Very unique, very undisturbed, very limited. Not accessed
by many people. And that's really the magic of it.
That's what Gila trout represent. And they're our indicator for this. This is a
tough environment they're an indicator for us to see the healthiness of the
ecosystem. And that's why I think the biologist gets so passionate about Gila
trout, because they give us an indication of our things doing. And they're really
changing a fire sculpted landscape now. I'm a New Mexico native and there's
something just really special about coming down to the Gila and being able
to put a line in the water and pull out a Gila trout which is one of our amazing
native species. And so, yeah we can go catch rainbow and brown trout all day
other places but there's something really special about just coming up here
pulling one of those out of the water and seeing its beautiful coloration and
the wild place that they live in that's so special to what New Mexico is at its
very core. Honestly being in the Gila; it's always breathtaking and it just
kind of is a slap across the face when you're going from your hectic everyday
life and stepping out into nature the vast expanse of the Gila. It just kind of
brings you back down to earth pretty quickly.
And after about two hours I pulled my first Gila trout out of the water. I was
super excited. It was pretty small but that doesn't matter to me because it was
absolutely gorgeous and I caught and released it and hopefully it grows back
into a big beautiful trout that I can come back and try to catch again later.
You can't come in here as a fish biologist and not think back to why
you got started. For me it was fishing streams that look very similar to where
we are now in northern Wisconsin. They were limestone streams and running
over rocks, and the fish weren't big and maybe they weren't even plentiful. But it
was the journey to see what was around each bend, and the next pool, and what
might be there. And I see myself seeing the same things here in Sacaton Creek
in the way southwestern corner of New Mexico. It's just incredible. It's an
incredible place that I hope more people get to experience and also that we can
spread the word that this experience is out there. I think just the physical act
of catching a Gila trout for people that have done it and gone through the
journey: it is that. It's a journey. It's about getting out here into places that
haven't been touched very often, and it's not that common to see people. And
it's that outdoor experience that this species brings and then shows us an
indication of how healthy the streams are doing.