DURANGO, Colo. (Durango Herald) — Wildlife officials who saved a rare lineage of cutthroat trout from a devastating wildfire in western Colorado are planning to release the fish back into the wild.
The Durango Herald reports a small crew from Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service captured the fish in the remote side streams of Hermosa Creek during the 416 Fire in 2018.
The fish were brought back to the hatchery in Durango where they have been kept in isolation, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife plans to release them this summer. Biologists say the cutthroat's range has been cut by about 85%.