National Academy of Sciences: Western U.S. Trout Habitat to Drop 35-77%

As Steve Bunk reports in New West, a study published today by the National Academy of Sciences predicts a dramatic loss in Western U.S. trout habitat over the next several decades.  “Today’s paper, in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also predicts that by 2080, rainbow trout, whose native habitat includes Idaho in the Rocky Mountain states, could be reduced by 35 percent. Two introduced trout species in the study will not do well, either: Brook trout habitat could decline by an estimated 77 percent, and brown trout by 48 percent.”