Columnist Paula DelGiudice: Project aims to restore native fish

Paula DelGiudice's outdoors column appears Wednesday. Reach her at [email protected]

White man's entry into "new" lands in North America created many changes for native populations of fish and wildlife.

In some cases, wildlife was destroyed through either habitat changes or hunting and fishing.

For instance, it is believed that bighorn sheep once inhabited every mountain range in Nevada. In some areas, they were killed off by camps of hungry miners that came in to seek their fortunes. In other cases, domestic livestock created competition or diseases that contributed to the demise of the wild animals.

Fish have been affected by loss of habitat through streamside degradation.

There are opportunities available to work to return native species to their original habitats.

Some of those have been happening for many years, such as the work done by the Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn to re-establish desert bighorns in their native range and extend their range in suitable habitat by building water developments.

This week, the National Park Service along with Trout Unlimited and other federal, state and private partners, is undertaking a "workweek" that began Monday, kicking off the first phase in the reintroduction of Bonneville cutthroat trout to streams in Great Basin National Park.

The workweek will conclude with a celebration and banquet on Friday called the "Bonneville Bash." The public is invited to attend.

In Nevada, Bonneville cutthroat trout (BCT) are native to the Snake Range and Deep Creek Range, the western border of ancient Lake Bonneville, which existed 16,000 to 18,000 years ago.

The Bonneville cutthroat trout is the only trout native to Great Basin National Park and east-central Nevada. The trout have been destroyed in most of their ancestral waters.

Great Basin National Park, Trout Unlimited, Goshute Tribe of Ibapah, Nevada Division of Wildlife, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Hidden Canyon Guest Ranch are working in partnership to reintroduce the native trout.

The Great Basin and Southern Nevada Chapters of TU are sponsoring a State Council gathering. Volunteers from all over the state, along with agency staff, will be participating in the activities. TU has provided two "Embrace-a-Stream" grants to support the work.

The workweek began with retrieving and transplanting non-native fish from Strawberry Creek to enhance local recreation fisheries and as requested by tribal consultants with respect for the fish.

Today, BCT were slated for reintroduction to the South Fork of Big Wash. The rest of the week will include stream surveys and preliminary work for the reintroduction into Snake Creek and the main stem of Big Wash.

The Bonneville Bash will be held at T&D's in Baker and is open to the general public. Cocktails begin at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7.

For more information, call the Great Basin National Park at (775) 234-7331.

The planned EA will address wildlife, threatened and endangered species, and cultural, archeological and Native American issues related to the securing or closing of sites that are potential safety hazards.

The local meetings will be held Thursday at the BLM's Las Vegas Field Office, 4675 West Vegas Drive. There will also be a meeting at the BLM state office in Reno on August 1.

Written comments are also welcome and may be sent to Christopher Ross, BLM NSO 920, P.O. Box 12000, Reno, NV 89520-0006.

Further information may be obtained from Ross at (775) 861-6571.

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