250 Rare Gila Trout Evacuated During Fire

June 13, 2009 By: Marshall Cutchin

Riding horses and using electroshockers, biologists gathered 250 pure strain Gila trout from South Diamond Creek in New Mexico and plan to put them in a hatchery until the danger has passed. “As a lightning-sparked fire charred thousands of acres in southwestern New Mexico, biologists and firefighters used helicopters and trucks for an unusual evacuation. They captured 250 Gila trout — a threatened species — from a creek in southwestern New Mexico and are moving them to a hatchery in the opposite corner of the state.” Article by the Associated Press.
In a related story, the Gila National Forest’s Wilderness Ranger District will close 20 miles of the the Gila River’s upper west fork while removing non-native brown and rainbow trout.