Piscicide Use on NF Lands
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Native Inland Trout Restoration on National Forests in the Western United States: Time for Improvement? The piscicides rotenone and antimycin are integral to successful restoration of native inland trout populations on public lands in the western United States by removing non- native fishes that compete and hybridize with 13 species and subspecies of native trout. introduced fishes The U.S. Forest Service administers the greatest portion of native inland trout habitat on public lands. Piscicide use by state and federal agencies on national forests has become ABSTRACT encumbered by redundant processes, uneven and irregular application of policies and regulations, and overlapping authorities. This has culminated in project delays and can- cellations, placing native trout at continued, if not heightened, extinction risks. We reviewed the status of native trout restoration efforts on national forests in the western United States and considered issues associated with piscicide use. Central to the issue is whether piscicide applications by states require a permit from the Forest Service; those that required a permit usually invoked a redundant, federal environmental review pro- cess that precipitated the project delays. Based upon this review, we recommend that perspective the Forest Service proceed with their proposal for a uniform standard for piscicide use by responsible government agencies on Forest Service administered lands. Doing so would streamline bureaucracy, speed future restoration efforts, and improve the status of imperiled native inland trouts without affecting environmental safeguards. Introduction because USFS was unable to complete NEPA requirements. Cancellation of Brian Finlayson Hilda Sexauer On 22 August 2003, just days before the treatment placed a federally-listed William Somer Tom Nesler a planned chemical treatment to threatened species at continued risk due Dan Duffield Scott Gurtin remove nonnative trout and restore to potential hybridization, and failure to David Propst John Elliot habitat for the federally-listed threat- improve security of the species may war- ened Paiute cutthroat trout rant its federal listing being upgraded to Chad Mellison Fred Partridge (Oncorhynchus clarki seleniris), the endangered. Tom Pettengill Don Skaar Center for Biological Diversity filed a Elsewhere across the western complaint in the U.S. District Court for United States, considerable resources Finlayson is senior environmental scientist and unit the Eastern District of California are devoted to conservation of the 13 leader with the California Department of Fish and against USDA Forest Service (USFS) species and subspecies of native inland Game in Rancho Cordova and can be reached at to block the project. The complaint trouts (Figure 1). Several species and [email protected]. Somer is senior fisheries cited compliance issues with the subspecies, such as bull trout biologist with the California Department of Fish National Environmental Policy Act (Salvelinus confluentus), Gila trout (O. and Game in Rancho Cordova. Duffield is regional (NEPA) and Administrative gilae), and greenback cutthroat trout fish program manager with the Intermountain Procedures Act (APA), challenging the (O. clarki stomias), are listed as Region of the Forest Service in Ogden, Utah. Propst USFS decision to allow California "threatened" or "endangered" by the is nongame and endangered species biologist with Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish in to use rotenone to remove nonnative (USFWS) under the Endangered Santa Fe. Mellison is fish and wildlife biologist with trout from Silver King Creek, Carson- Species Act (ESA). Others are pro- the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Reno, Nevada. tected or receive special management Pettengill is sport fisheries and aquatic education Iceberg Wilderness, Humboldt-Toiyabe attention by states and cooperating programs coordinator with the Utah Division of National Forest, as part of the Paiute federal and tribal agencies (Table 1). Wildlife Resources in Salt Lake City. Sexauer is cutthroat trout habitat restoration pro- regional fisheries supervisor with the Wyoming ject (CDFG 2002). Paiute cutthroat Much of this effort occurs on public Game and Fish Department in Pinedale. Nesler is trout, one of the rarest species of trout in lands and USFS administers a substan- statewide native fishes conservation manager with the world with a historical range of a tial portion of the lands having habitat the Colorado Division of Wildlife in Fort Collins. single drainage, is threatened by capable of supporting trout (Figure 2). Gurtin is native trout conservation coordinator with hybridization with rainbow trout (O. A common and critical element of the Arizona Game and Fish Department in Phoenix. mykiss). Because USFS opted not to native inland trout conservation is Elliott is fisheries biologist with the Nevada challenge the complaint and because of removal of nonnative fishes from Department of Wildlife in Elko. Partridge is resident the narrow window of logistics, water native trout habitats with piscicides. fisheries coordinator with the Idaho Fish and Game temperature, and weather, the project Conflicting directions and policies Department in Boise. Skaar is pollution control was cancelled for the year. Previously, contained in laws, regulations, manuals, biologist with Montana Department of Fish, CDFG had attempted to execute this and agreements affect the use of pisci- Wildlife and Parks in Helena. project in 2002, but was delayed cides in national forests. In California, 10 Fisheries | www.fisheries.org | vol 30 no 5 Figure 1. The 13 species and subspecies of the western United States inland native trouts (illustrations credit Joseph Tomelleri). Colorado River cutthroat trout Apache trout Paiute cutthroat trout Gila trout Bonneville cutthroat trout Rio Grande cutthroat trout Greenback cutthroat trout Bull trout Westslope cutthroat trout Lahontan cutthroat trout California golden trout Yellowstone cutthroat trout Little Kern golden trout Figure 2. Distribution of 13 species and subspecies of native trouts (Oncorhynchus) and char (Salvelinus) of the western United States (adapted from Benke 1992). May 2005 | www.fisheries.org | Fisheries 11 the legal challenge to the rotenone treatment arose western national forests that compromises conserva- from changes in USFS NEPA compliance strategy for tion and recovery of all native inland trout. The the Paiute cutthroat trout restoration project. objectives of this article are to investigate the causes Unfortunately, confusion over NEPA requirements of the problem, identify what actions are technically and compliance for piscicide treatments by state agen- and legally necessary for projects using piscicides to cies on national forests is not confined to California. proceed, and assess the USFS's proposal for streamlin- Throughout the western United States, USFS has ing bureaucracy and speeding recovery efforts. taken different NEPA-related actions on similar pro- jects, sometimes in the same national forest, or in the Interaction of Native and introduced fishes case of the Humboldt-Toiyabe, changing the action. If there is a federal nexus, such management activities Nonnative Trout require review as set forth in NEPA. Responsibility for Native inland trout populations in the western NEPA compliance traditionally has rested, though United States are naive to introduced nonnative not always, with the federal agency administering the trouts and have been greatly impacted by competi- land upon which a conservation action is to occur. tion, predation, and hybridization (Behnke 2002). The untimely interruption of the Paiute cutthroat Many watersheds have been routinely stocked for trout project is illustrative of a problem throughout more than 50 years with nonnative rainbow, cut- FISH DEPARTMENT ARIZONA GAME AND LORRAINE AVENETTI, throat, brook (Salvelinus fontinalis), and brown (Salmo trutta) trouts (Fuller et al. 1999). Nonnative fishes perspective can be successful when introduced into new environ- ments (Courtenay and Stauffer 1984; Dill and Cordone 1997). Introduction of nonnative salmonid species has Photo 1. Biologist with the Arizona Fish and contributed to the decline of most, if not all, inland Game Department native trouts (Griffith 1988; Gerstung 1988; USFWS measures antimycin 2003a). Colorado River (O. c. pleuriticus; Peterson into a drip can for and Fausch 2002; De Staso and Rahel 1994), green- restoration of Apache O. c. Photo 1 back (Wang and White 1994), and Lahontan ( trout in Snake Creek in henshawi); (Dunham et al. 1999) cutthroat trouts are the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in OF FISH AND GAME CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT BRIAN FINLAYSON OF GAME AND FISH FRENTZEL, NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT MARTY impacted by competitive inter- Arizona. actions with brook and brown trouts. Lake trout (Salvelinus Photo 2. California namaycush) introduced into Department of Fish and Game uses a drip can to Lake Tahoe have become estab- treat Silver Creek with lished in the niche that the top rotenone for restoration native predator, Lahontan cut- of Lahontan cutthroat throat trout, formerly occupied trout in the Humboldt- (Zanden et al. 2003). Gerstung Toiybae National Forest (1988) noted that introduced in California. rainbow, brook, and brown Photo 3. Treatment of trouts had displaced popula- West Fork Gila River in tions of Lahontan cutthroat the Gila National Forest in New Mexico with trout in many