Council hears $39,500 outfitter ask and helicopter support requests for remote trout restoration projects

Several Uinta Mountain trout‑restoration projects and related funding requests were presented to the Great Salt Lake Blue Ribbon Council, which heard details about logistics, costs and conservation goals.

Why it matters: state fisheries staff said the projects aim to remove nonnative brook trout and reestablish Colorado River cutthroat trout across remote headwater streams and lakes. Restoring and expanding conservation populations is part of the Division of Wildlife Resources’ strategy to prevent listing of the cutthroat as a threatened or endangered species.

Fall Creek rotenone treatment and outfitter request: DWR staff summarized a Fall Creek project in the Rock Creek drainage that was reshaped following a wildfire roughly five years ago. After on‑the‑ground reconnaissance and electrofishing surveys, staff said the current treatment scope is about 6–7 miles of stream and roughly 24 surface acres across several lakes and reconnecting tributaries. Mike Slater and other staff told the council the scope narrowed after field surveys showed many upper reaches no longer contained fish.

DWR requested Blue Ribbon funding to hire an outfitter…