State wildlife officers on Wednesday rescued rare cutthroat trout from a creek in the Hayden Pass fire burn area, quelling concerns about their possible extinction because of the blaze.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife says many of the rare fish — with genetic links to the iconic, pure greenback cutthroat trout — were taken from the fire zone to an isolation chamber at the Roaring Judy Hatchery near Gunnison.
Officials were worried ash and sediment from the Hayden Pass fire would wash down into the lower prong of Hayden Creek, where the fish live, strangling their oxygen and food supplies. However, videos taken from the rescue mission show wildlife officers removing several of the trout from the stream.
The trout that live in the creek share a unique genetic anomaly with a cutthroat found in the Smithsonian Museum and said to have been taken from Twin Lakes near Leadville in 1889, CPW says.
Fire commanders say the trout mission on Wednesday resulted in the netting and removal of 200 fish. One of the firefight’s main objectives has been to protect the fish as much as possible.
The Gazette reported last week that Greg Policky with CPW said the fish in a 3-mile stretch of Hayden Creek are “one of a kind.” He says they’re related to greenbacks but have DNA not known to be in any other fish.
The Hayden Pass fire, which ignited July 12 and has burned more than 16,000 acres, was 55 percent contained as of Friday morning. Evacuees in the area southeast of Salida have been allowed to return home.
“Residents will continue to see smoke from the interior of the fire until the area receives significant precipitation,” officials said in a fire briefing. “Crews continue to mop-up hot spots within a couple hundred feet of firelines.”
Over 1.2 million gallons of water have been dropped by planes and helicopters as part of firefighter’s suppression efforts.