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The endangered Gila trout were reintroduced to Dude Creek near Payson Wednesday, restoring Arizona’s other native trout to Arizona’s ecosystem once again.
"It was an immense operation spanning two states. A lot could have gone wrong from bad weather to equipment breakdowns or livestock mishaps," said Larry Riley, Arizona Game and Fish Department Fisheries branch chief.
However, he said, "It all went like clockwork. After all the untold man-hours and effort that went into this reintroduction project, it was a stirring sight to see the trout being slowly lowered by the hovering helicopter while anxious crews waited at the creek below," said Riley.
It was high-tech, low-tech operation involving mule trains, hatchery trucks, helicopters and eventually, biologists and volunteers carrying 5-gallon buckets full of fish and placing the 127 trout into pre-selected pools.
On Monday, a mule train traveled into the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico to reach the remote Spruce Creek, which runs through a deep and narrow canyon. On Tuesday, New Mexico Game and Fish Department biologists used backpack electro-shocking equipment to capture the Gila trout from Spruce Creek. The fish were placed into a specially designed transport container and kept over night.
On Wednesday morning, a helicopter with a 150-foot-long cable dangling beneath it flew to Spruce Creek, the cable was hooked to the transport container, and the endangered fish were taken to Glenview, New Mexico where they were placed into a hatchery truck for transport to Arizona. Biologists in New Mexico were in radio contact with biologists in Arizona to find out the water temperature at Dude Creek. During the trip to Arizona, the trout were slowly acclimated to the water temperature at their new home at Dude Creek. Then it was on the road for five hours to reach the Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery tucked under the Mogollon Rim north of Payson.
At the Tonto Hatchery, the Gila trout were taken out of the hatchery truck, and once again placed into a transport container. Another helicopter using a 150-foot-long cable transported the endangered fish to crews waiting on the ground along the creek. The fish were taken out of the container, loaded into 5-gallon buckets with special aeration systems, and hand-carried to 17 different pools along the upper end of Dude Creek.
The ground crews were comprised of Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists with volunteers assisting from Trout Unlimited, the Mogollon Sportsmen, and Northern Arizona Flycasters, Desert Flycasters and Arizona Flycasters.
Game and Fish Director Duane Shroufe pointed out that the reintroduction was made possible thanks to work by a host of cooperators, but would not be occurring at all without the efforts of the New Mexico Game and Fish Department.
"Gila trout conservation efforts in New Mexico began in 1923. Successful expansion of Gila trout territory in New Mexico since 1970 has brought us to the point where we once again have these special native trout back in Arizona," Shroufe said.
Dave Propst, New Mexico Game and Fish native fish biologists, said repatriation of Gila trout to its native range in the Verde River drainage in Arizona represents a major accomplishment for the conservation and recovery of this species. "This multi-agency effort adds considerable security to the most imperiled of the Gila trout lineages," Propst said.
Propst explained that should a catastrophic fire occur in the Spruce Creek area of the Gila Wilderness, then that particular lineage of Gila trout could be lost without the Dude Creek reintroduction.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials said that the Dude Creek reintroduction is a major and necessary step toward meeting the recovery goals of this species. "Bringing the Gila trout back to one of its former homes in Arizona gets us a step closer to our goal of recovery and the eventual delisting of another native," said David L. Harlow, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Arizona ecological services supervisor.
Riley explained that once the Gila trout are downlisted from endangered to threatened status, it would be possible establish a fishable population of Gila trout in both Arizona and New Mexico.
"It is realistic to expect a sufficient population of Gila trout in Arizona within five years to support downlisting. Once downlisting occurs, then creating a sport fishery for this colorful native is a possibility we will aggressively pursue," Riley said.
Nongame Branch Chief Terry Johnson explained that Gila trout growth rates are similar to those for rainbow trout. "All indications are that Gila trout are hardier than rainbows or Apache trout and can withstand much wider variations in water temperatures and conditions," Johnson said.
Both Riley and Johnson added that it is also possible that within five years the recovery of the Apache trout will be attained and also to have the downlisting of the Gila trout occur within that same time period.
"To have the downlisting of the Gila trout and the delisting of the Apache trout within the same time period would be a dream come true. It^s possible. Hopefully, it^s likely. Barring any catastrophic events, these are reachable goals," Johnson said.
Uploaded: 10/7/1999
Uploaded: 10/7/1999