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The California golden trout (CGT formerly known as the Volcano Creek golden trout) is “one of the most strikingly colored trout in the world” (Benke 1992). California golden trout most likely resulted from colonization of the Kern River drainage by successive forms of primitive Sacramento-San Joaquin redband rainbow trout (Behnke 1992). The California golden trout is native only to two high-altitude watersheds in California’s rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains. Its native range once encompassed an estimated 450 miles of stream habitat in the upper South Fork Kern River and adjacent Golden Trout Creek. SEE MAP This habitat lies entirely within federal control, and over the past half century managers at both the state and federal level have attempted to protect and preserve this beautiful native fish various means including:
The California golden trout is extremely susceptible to hybridization with non-native rainbow trout. Years of stocking non-native trout species throughout most of the South Fork Kern Rover drainage and in the headwaters of Golden Trout Creek have reduced native California golden trout to a tenuous existence above a series of artificial fish passage barriers on the South Fork Kern (a management strategy that has also necessitated no fewer than 15 chemical treatments of various portions of the South Fork Kern to remove non-native trout) and below three lakes in golden Trout Creek’s headwaters that now contain non-native trout. Additionally, the threat of hybridization is compounded by poor land management practices allowed in Inyo National Forest. Although the entire remaining native California golden trout habitat lies within the Golden Trout Wilderness, much of this habitat has been degraded for decades. Legacy conditions – where stream and riparian zones have not been allowed to fully recover – combine with on-going damage from current livestock grazing operations to stifle California golden trout recovery and threaten long-term species allotments that include or border significant stretches of the South Fork Kern River and Golden Trout Creek. All of the habitat concerns associated with livestock grazing, including loss of riparian vegetation, widened stream channels, and streambank degradation have been exacerbated by the California’s golden trout’s tendency to overpopulate when in degraded habitat, greatly lowering the overall health of the population. Finally, the cold temperatures associated with the high elevation of this area forces all of the grazing into a brief window of approximately three months, and ensure only limited recovery of riparian vegetation. The California golden trout is in danger of extinction caused by hybridization and by the destruction and adverse modification of its habitat. In addition, the regulatory mechanisms of the federal and state agencies responsible for managing California golden trout habitat and preventing further loss of its genetic integrity are not been sufficient to prevent extinction. In October 2000, Trout Unlimited filed a petition to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to list the golden trout as an endangered species.
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