Smithsonian Talks Trout

Since the most popular article on Smithsonian magazine’s Web site is “A Brief History of House Cats,” it’s a welcome surprise to see them provide this long and excellent history of the redistribution and management of trout species in the U.S. There’s a ton of info here — in fact it’s the making of a book — and if you care at all about trout conservation we suggest reading Robert Poole’s piece, which covers everything from brown trout on steamships to Robert J. Behnke’s rediscovery of the greenback cutthroat to TU and modern conservationists who are looking at trout management as more than a question of species survival.
If you have an interest in “genetic imperialism,” you may also want to check out Paul Schullery’s “Imperialist Trout” on MidCurrent; it takes a more cosmopolitan look at the efforts of various countries to colonize the world with their favorite fish.