Of Special Concern

Meriwether Lewis made the first scientific observations of the westslope cutthroat trout on June 13, 1805, after eating one for dinner, writing that these trout closely resembled mountain or speckled trout but had specks of a deep black. Once abundant, the fish has been listed as a species of special concern since 1979. In the Missouri River drainage, genetically pure westslope trout survive in less than 5% of their historic range, and most remnant populations are small, isolated, and in danger of extinction. Introduced plants and animals have often radically changed local communities and sometimes driven native species to extinction, and in Montana waters brook, brown, and rainbow trout were introduced in the 1880s after overfishing by settlers had reduced native trout numbers. Efforts to restore the native species include stocking currently fishless headwaters areas and building barriers to protect existing populations.

Montana · United States