Deep Creek, UT/NV

The Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Indian Reservation have plans to restore and maintain the integrity of their aquatic ecosystems, including the return of Bonneville cutthroat trout to primary drainages on their reservation lands.  Restoration activities on the Goshute Indian Reservation have included riparian fencing, construction of brood ponds and artificial spawning channels, instream habitat improvements, chemical treatments to remove nonnative salmonids, benthic invertebrate sampling, fish population surveys, and water quality and quantity monitoring on multiple streams within the Deep Creek drainage located in the Deep Creek Mountains which spans Utah and Nevada border.

In 2001, Trout Unlimited participated in translocations of Bonneville cutthroat trout into two fishless streams in the Deep Creek drainage.  Adult and juvenile trout from a brood source were released at four locations along Fifteen Mile Creek, and trout from a remnant, historical population were transplanted in South Fork Johnson Creek. All transferred fish were measured and marked as part of our research and evaluation component.  Future restorations are scheduled over the next few years, including a translocation of eggs only into Bird’s Creek in 2004.

Local project partners on this effort include the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Indian Reservation, Douglass Deep Creek Mountain Ranch, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Great Basin Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and Utah Council of Trout Unlimited.