The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal to remove the Apache trout from the Endangered Species list Aug. 10. The Apache trout is Arizona's state fish, according to an Aug. 10 news release.
“The Apache trout’s recovery is a significant conservation milestone and a remarkable story to celebrate, especially now during the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act,” Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director Amy Lueders said in the release. “The ESA makes a difference by bringing people together to find solutions to conserve and recover imperiled species like the Apache trout.”
The Apache trout is native to Arizona and found in the streams of the White Mountains, the release reported. It was listed in 1967, when it was considered the same species as the Gila Trout, but gained its own listing in 1972.
The conservation efforts of several groups and multiple projects funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have allowed Apache trout to flourish and their available habitat to increase, the release said. Groups that have worked to help these fish include the White Mountain Apache Tribe, the U.S. Forest Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department and Trout Unlimited.
According to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s frequently asked questions page about delisting the Apache trout, there are no longer non-native trout in streams where Apache trout once lived and in streams that reach their recovery populations. The milestone of 30 streams reclaimed from those non-native species has been met, but recovery efforts are still underway.
One of two fish passage projects that have assisted in the recovery of the Apache Trout is the Crooked Creek Route 55 Culvert Fish Passage Project. According to the project webpage, eight miles of stream have been reopened for the single population of only 17 in the state. The Arizona Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office was the lead on this project, which received $325,000 in NFPP funding.
The 2009 Apache Trout Recovery Plan’s Second Revision notes that in 2009, there were 28 pure Apache trout populations within its historical range. The plan also called for “30 self-sustaining discrete populations of pure Apache trout within its historical range.”
The plan also listed the three other criteria for recovery. Those include habitat sufficient to provide for all life functions at all life stages of 30 self-sustaining discrete populations of pure Apache trout has been established and protected through plans and agreements with responsible land and resource management entities. These plans will address and serve to remedy current and future threats to Apache trout habitat.
Appropriate angling regulations are in place to protect Apache trout populations while complying with federal, state and Tribal regulatory processes, the plan reported. Agreements are in place with USFWS, AGFD and WMAT to monitor, prevent and control disease and/or causative agents, parasites and pathogens that may threaten Apache trout.
“A population will be considered self-sustaining by the presence of multipleage classes and evidence of periodic natural reproduction. A population will be considered established when it is capable of persisting under the range of variation in habitat conditions that occur in the restoration stream (Propst and Stefferud 1997),” the plan said.
