ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Not listed

PETIONED: 1999

RANGE: Less than 5 percent of its former range in the Colorado River drainage in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico

THREATS: Habitat loss and degradation due to development, livestock grazing, road construction for logging and mining projects, decreased water quality and quantity, competition from nonnative fish, hybridization, and whirling disease

POPULATION TREND: Colorado River cutthroat are extremely imperiled and are now found in only 5 percent of their historic range — typically in isolated headwater streams with limited access to other populations. Less than 1 percent of the trout's former range is populated by trout with a high level of genetic integrity. Sixty-two percent of robust populations are found in locations strongly correlated with designated roadless areas, emphasizing the importance of preserving intact wilderness.

Colorado River cutthroat trout photo courtesy BLM