The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced that New Mexico’s state fish, the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, is no longer a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act. According to the report, aggressive conservation efforts by the department and its partners have enhanced or restored pure-strain native cutthroats in 127 streams that are open to public fishing. Rio Grande cutthroats now occupy about 700 miles of stream habitat.
According to the commission’s report, the most impressive restoration effort has been the ongoing project to restore pure-strain native cutthroats to the Rio Costilla watershed, which consists of more than 150 miles of streams, 25 lakes and the Costilla Reservoir. More than 70 miles of streams have been restored and more than 33,000 native fish have been stocked in those waters since that project began in 2007. This year, the department plans to stock another six miles of restored waters. For more information, see http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/press_releases