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Show Issue raised by; Utah Environmental Center and was mentioned in the Preliminary Survey of the Biota of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project, prepared by the Center for Health and Environmental Studies, Brigham Young University. Response: The main concern expressed, regarding the possibility of the Bonneville Unit causing serious intermixing of faunal gene pools that have previously been distinct, involved fish species moving from the Colorado Basin into the Bonneville Basin. There was some additional anxiety concerning other biological components of the aquatic ecosystem. A description of the existing fish fauna in Utah and in the Unit area is given in Section B of this statement. The original fish populations of the State have undergone drastic changes since settlement in the l800' s. The result of man's activities, both intentional and unintentional, has been a severe reduction in numbers and kinds of native species to a point where virtually all important sport fish species have been introduced and several native species are threatened with extinction or are already gone. The game fish situation is explained in the following passages extracted from Fislies lof Utah, 19^ 3? by W. F. Sigler, Department of Wildlife Resources, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, and R. R. Miller, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan:^ " Comparison of collections taken in the l880' s with those acquired since 1938c show dramatically that the fish fauna of Utah and of the American Southwest in general underwent drastic change during the century from I85O and 1950 ( Killer, 1961). At least four species- humpback chub, Colorado squawfish, humpback sucker, and June sucker- are threatened with extinction in Utah, and probably both the Utah cutthroat trout and the Colorado cutthroat trout have become extinct;, the distribution and abun^- dance of others have been greatly curtailed. The utilization of waters by man, pollution, irrigation practices, overgrazing, cutting of forests, and introduction of alien species have all contributed to the replacement and depletion of native stocks. Introduction of hait fishes as well as intentional plantings of exotic game species and of water diversions across divides have resulted in the mixing of once distinct faunas, such as those of the Bonneville and Colorado Basins. Depletion and gradual elimination of many of the native kinds appears to be an inevitable consequence of advancing civilization. " Salmo clarki Richardson- cutthroat trout. This species, the only trout native to Utah and the Intermountain Region generally, was once widespread and abundant, in suitable waters over the State. Because of the remarkable variations in color, spotting, scale number and body form, this species has received many different scientific names in different parts of its range. Largely for convenience in discussing the cutthroat trout of the different drainages, the species is here subdivided into subspecies. Whether these are valid remains to be determined. 652 |
