Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) will be conducting a non-native fish removal project from Sept. 13-17 in the area around Williams Gulch on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land. The USFS will be temporarily closing the area around Williams Gulch, located just north of Rocky Mountain N.P., to all uses as a result of the project. In addition to National Forest System lands, a small portion of CPW’s Bliss State Wildlife Area along Williams Gulch will also be impacted and have restricted use as a result of the project.
CPW is conducting the project to reintroduce greenback cutthroat trout to Williams Gulch, located on the Roosevelt National Forest in Larimer County. The removal of non-native species is being done in preparation for the reintroduction of greenback cutthroat trout to the creek. The greenback cutthroat trout is Colorado's State Fish and is listed as "Threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.
Williams Gulch was originally stocked with cutthroat trout in 1996. However, those cutthroat trout were not pure greenback cutthroat trout, which are the native trout to the South Platte River basin. For the re-establishment of pure greenbacks to succeed, all other cutthroat trout currently in the stream population must be removed. This removal is done using rotenone, an EPA-approved organic compound used for decades to control fish populations.
As part of the reintroduction project, the USFS will keep the area around Williams Gulch closed (from Sept. 13-17) for public health and safety during the non-native fish removal activities. The project area includes portions of Forest System Roads 319 (Green Ridge Road) and 177 (Green Ridge Cutoff), closing them to all uses.
After fish are successfully removed from the stream, pure greenback cutthroat trout will be stocked. In the end, this project will result in 2.5 miles of new greenback cutthroat trout habitat.
Jeff
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