Punished Meridia retweetledi
The riveting first hand account of Colorado Parks and Wildlife and U.S. Forest Service employees risking the Gold Mountain Fire to hike into Nate Creek and catch native, endemic Uncompahgre cutthroat and hike them out to safety away from the fire.
Uncompahgre cutthroat are incredible, genetically distinct, native fish to the headwaters of the Colorado and Gunnison Basins. If these fish had disappeared in this fire, there would be no way to replace them. This type of fish, in conservation, is known as the Nate Creek “halotype” which means they have a unique genetic fingerprint found only in the Uncompahgre cutthroat.
Electrofishing is nonlethal fish stunning device that CPW hiked into the burn zone in heavy backpacks, escorted by forest service firefighters. Trout float to the top, recover in seconds, but are easily removed brought back down to the safety of the hatchery. All in all they netted around 100 Uncompahgre cutthroats, carrying them down in 5 gallon buckets (down a steep incline in the middle of a burn zone). When conditions improve, they’ll be hiked back in. Huge thanks to CPW and the Forest Service for protecting the Uncompahgre cutthroat.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife@COParksWildlife
The window of opportunity would only last a few hours. Our aquatic biologist, Eric Gardunio, knew it was the best (& maybe only) chance to save a very rare native fish from the nearby Gold Mtn Fire. Staff would have to go into the fire zone + get out fast. Could it be done?
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