Colorado biologists pull over 100 rare trout from burning Nate Creek

The Gold Mountain Fire ignited near Ouray in late June and eventually burned nearly 40,000 acres, leading to voluntary and then mandatory evacuations across the Uncompahgre National Forest. Recognizing that Nate Creek hosts the sole remaining native population of the Uncompahgre cutthroat trout, Colorado Parks & Wildlife dispatched an aquatic team led by Eric Gardunio. With support from incident-command firefighters, the crew descended steep, fire-scarred terrain after receiving a limited entry window from the U.S. Forest Service.

Using an electrofishing backpack, they removed more than 100 trout from roughly one-third of the stream, preserving a representative brood for future restoration. Scientists John Livingston and Dan Kowalski noted that cutthroat trout now occupy only about 10-13% of their historic range, making this population uniquely valuable. The rescued fish provide a backup stock should post-fire flooding or ash-laden runoff degrade the creek’s ecosystem.