Restoration of the California golden trout in the South Fork Kern River, Kern Plateau, Tulare County, California, 1965-2004, with reference to Golden Trout Creek

Authors: Edwin P. Phil Pister

Year: 2008 (xl)

Abstract

In 1873, renowned mountaineer and surveyor Clarence King (a member of the legendary Whitney/Brewer survey party) commented in his classic “Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada” about the horrendous damage created on the Kern River Plateau through unrestricted livestock grazing upon the vast mountain meadows that provide the evolutionary habitat of the California golden trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita, since designated by the California State Fish and Game Commission as the California State Fish and one of the most valuable recreational and biological assets on public lands within California. Recovery of this area was slow in coming, but planning began in 1959 under mandate of California Governor Pat Brown and supported by his counterparts within upper echelons of the USDA-Forest Service. Under the joint responsibilities of both state and federal agencies, grazing allotments were gradually reduced, and California Department of Fish and Game fishery biologists, teamed with Inyo National Forest counterparts, began a recovery program involving removal of a population of invading brown trout, Salmo trutta, an exotic species which seriously threatened continued existence and evolution of the California golden trout. During early days of the recovery effort, brown trout (through competition and predation) in certain areas outnumbered golden trout at a ratio of more than 100:1. Obviously, this situation could no longer be tolerated. Genetically uncontaminated golden trout were nearing extinction. The current recovery program was implemented in 1965 and, although largely completed, remains in progress to this day as geneticists sort out the various populations within the recovery area. This work, closely adhering to philosophies and principles of early Forest Service pioneers Gifford Pinchot, Bob Marshall, and Aldo Leopold, has been summarized in this paper, authored by Edwin P. (Phil) Pister, a retired California Department of Fish and Game fishery biologist who has directed the recovery effort since its inception in 1959 in close cooperation with Inyo National Forest personnel. The paper provides a 40-year history that will serve as a basis for resource management upon the Kern River Plateau far into the foreseeable future. The recovery work no doubt constitutes the most lengthy, and difficult, such program ever undertaken for a fish, freshwater or otherwise.