Yellowstone Biologists Find Hope for Cutthroat

An increasing number of juvenile Yellowstone cutthroat have been counted in Yellowstone Lake recently — a possible sign that increased snowpack and aggressive gill-netting of predatory lake trout are improving the chances for a new generation of spawning fish. “Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service denied a petition to protect the cutthroat under the Endangered Species Act. The agency said that despite shrinking habitat and threats to the fish, there wasn’t enough evidence to indicate the fish will disappear in the next 20 to 30 years in the West.” Mike Stark in the Billings (Montana) Gazette.