In the middle of the Gold Mountain fire is Nate Creek, a small stream tumbling down the west side of the toothy Cimarron Ridge. And in that creek are special fish: the last genetic relatives to the native cutthroats that once crowded the streams flowing into Uncompahgre River around Ouray and Ridgway.
This week 10 biologists with Colorado Parks and Wildlife joined firefighters for a one-of-a-kind rescue of Uncompahgre cutthroat trout, in a short weather window that allowed access to Nate Creek in the middle of a nearly 40,000-acre fire that is 24% contained. The biologists rescued 103 trout and transported them to a state fish hatchery for protection.
“These beautiful fish represent a living part of the history of this place,” said state aquatic biologist Eric Gardunio, in a statement. “They also fill a unique role in the function of the ecosystems they inhabit. Currently, CPW is trying to restore them to many of the streams where they have been lost. They are resilient and have persisted in harsh environments for thousands of years, and they can flourish again if we give them a chance.”
Gardunio has been watching the Gold Mountain fire spread toward Cimarron Ridge and Silver Jack Reservoir, growing increasingly anxious for the rare fish in Nate Creek, which rolls down Owl Creek Pass and through Devils Canyon above Ridgway Reservoir.
On July 15, Gardunio’s team hiked through burned and smoldering forest to reach the creek, where they used electrofishing backpacks to stun fish in a section of the stream. With rain forecast — which is good for firefighters but not necessarily fish in streams that get clogged with debris — they were harried.
The biologists and firefighters lugged 5-gallon buckets of fish up and out of the canyon before 1 p.m. as winds shifted and the fire danger spiked. They loaded the 103 fish — from 3 inches to 7 inches — into a hatchery truck and hauled them 160 miles to the Rifle Falls Hatchery, where they are in an isolated facility.
“In my 26 years of experience, I have never had such a smooth field operation — in a hazard zone, no less,” said Valerie Thompson, aquatic program manager with the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, in a statement that heralded the cooperation between biologists, wildlife manager, fire personnel and the Forest Service. “The level of coordination and communication was unprecedented.”