Trout Unlimited-Truchas Chapter State Game Commission Meeting

[gratz4 at cybermesa.com]

At the State Game Commission meeting on March 31, 2005, the Department of Game
and Fish will seek Commission approval of two native fish restoration projects
involving the use of piscicides.  This will be the first time the Commission
will address the use of piscicides since its ban on their use last August.

The Department will seek Commission approval to complete the removal of
non-native fish in the West Fork of the Rio Gila and to restore Gila trout to
that stream.  This work was interrupted by the Commission’s August ban on
piscicides.  It is part of an effort by the Department of Game and Fish, the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Forest Service, and
other groups and individuals to increase the current range of the Gila trout,
which is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

The Department will also seek Commission approval of a project to restore Rio
Grande cutthroat trout (RGCT) on the Rio Costilla drainage in the Valle Vidal.
 The first phase of that plan will be the removal of non-native fish from
Comanche Creek from Vidal Creek to a barrier above Comanche Point.  The Forest
Service is in the process of receiving public input on the construction of
that barrier.  RGCT, the New Mexico state fish, has been driven out of all but
a small fraction of its native range in New Mexico, and the Truchas Chapter
has been a strong supporter of efforts to restore this fish to more of its
native range.

Piscicides are fish poisons used to remove non-native trout as part of native
trout restoration efforts.  The two used by the Department, rotenone and
Antimycin, have been used for over thirty years, and we are convinced that
they are safe in the concentrations used for fish removal purposes.    

We urge all of our members to contact the members of the Game Commission and
to express support for the Game and Fish proposal to restore native trout in
the West Fork of the Rio Gila and in the Rio Costilla drainage.  A list of the
Game Commissioners and their contact information is attached.

The March 31 Game Commission meeting will be held at the Spencer Theater for
the Performing Arts, Airport Highway 220, Ruidoso, New Mexico.  It will start
at 9:00 a.m., and this proposal will be heard early in the meeting.

Contact Kevin Reilly at kevinvreilly at aol.com 
or (505) 466-3786 if you have any
questions.

Truchas Trout Unlimited

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