Hope Springs Eternal
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Westslope Cutthroat
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== The Westslope Cutthroat Trout is one of the very first immigrants in North America. Over 60,000,000 years ago; before there were Rocky Mountains, before there was a Yellowstone Park, before the Snake River dumped it's water into the Pacific Ocean near current day San Francisco, and even before there was an aggregation of oophiolites on the west coast of our current continent - the ancestral cutthroats began moving into the interior of the new continent.
== These early salmonids populated all of the west of what we call North America. Only a few strains of these early genes are left to us: the Golden Trout of Yosemite is a remnant of these early migrants. The Palomar Trout near San Diego is also a relic of very early times. The trout of the Sierra Madre in western Mexico still survive. And the West Slope Cuttthroat is with us as well! The early populations of these species colonized the continent, and gave rise to the other inland trout that we know and love.
== These fish are the remnants of a hearty group of pioneer species that have provided us with great pleasure and enjoyment. They deserve our consideration and help. They are certainly to be cherished as part of our heritage - far more than later arrivals and certainly far more than imports. These fish are priceless.
== From a small group of recently discovered, pure-strain fish, the fisheries managers in Yellowstone intend to establish a pure breeding population to preserve this species. This is good news. The stories are better told by the sources below.
SOURCES:
Bozeman Chronicle
Billings Gazette
Fly Fishing In Yellowstone
A Park For All Seasons
Yellowstone Park
Public Comment
