Bull Trout Labeled A Top Priority By Batt Governor Doesn’t Want Fish Listed As Threatened Species

Idaho’s top federal wildlife manager said he is encouraged by the state’s actions to protect bull trout.

But whether it is enough to prevent the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the native char as a threatened species will not be decided at least until June. And Gov. Phil Batt said Monday that restoring bull trout will be one of his top priorities for the rest of his term.

Batt reiterated his opposition to listing the species under the auspices of the Endangered Species Act, which would put it under federal instead of state control. Batt has prepared his own plan to save the fish, which lives mostly in Idaho, but also in Montana.

Batt’s program has begun to help bull trout, said Bob Ruesink, the agency’s local director. Fish and Wildlife’s listing team will have to determine the significance and success of state protection measures.

Bull trout numbers have dropped because its habitat has been destroyed by logging, road-building, mining and overgrazing. Dams and the introduction of brook trout, which interbreed with bull trout, also has contributed to its decline.

Under Batt’s plan, watershed advisory committees assess the problems threatening bull trout in rivers around the state and recommend action. Enforcement would be carried out using state authority under the federal Clean Water Act, said Nate Fisher, the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality’s acting bull trout coordinator.