Groups Petition For Listing Cutthroat Trout As Endangered

When a coalition of environmental groups in Idaho and Montana asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the westslope cutthroat trout as a threatened species, the goal was to restore the cutthroat by the centennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 2005.

They might have a long wait.

Federal wildlife officials said there are a number of species with higher priority for consideration for protection under the Endangered Species Act, and it might be a while before the cutthroat even is considered.

Chuck Pezeshki’s Clearwater Biodiversity Project of Troy, and Jon Marvel’s Idaho Watersheds Project in Hailey, are among groups petitioning the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the cutthroat as endangered in the Columbia River Basin.

They claim the trout is threatened by habitat decline and a history of non-native fish introductions.

Officials said in the Rocky Mountains and Plains regional office of the Fish and Wildlife Service, 29 plant and animal species await consideration not even counting the highest priority species.

“We try to do it by getting to the most urgent species first,” said Lori Nordstrom, Fish and Wildlife Service biologist in Helena. The Montana office is the lead agency on the cutthroat listing, though it consults with the Idaho office.

The agency has been sued recently to list the Canada lynx and bull trout, so these species have received priority.

After a several-month moratorium on listing additional species and federal government shutdowns, the agency was left with a lengthy list of species needing review but little time and money for the studies.

“It threw this whole listing process in turmoil,” said Olin Bray, a Fish and Wildlife Service senior staff biologist for endangered species in Denver.