Trout Species Threatened Inside Hayden Pass Fire Burn Area
COALDALE, Colo. (CBS4) - A team from Colorado Parks and Wildlife is attempting to rescue a unique species of cutthroat trout from Hayden Creek.
Ash from the Hayden Pass Fire that's flowing into the creek will likely cut off the food supply of the fish, as well as their oxygen.
A total of 200 fish who were captured in nets this week inside the lines of the burn area are now being held at a hatchery.
"This green cutthroat shares a unique genetic anomaly with a cutthroat trout found in the Smithsonian Museum said to have been taken from Twin Lakes near Leadville, Colo., in 1889," Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials wrote in a news release.
That wildfire in Fremont County forced the evacuation of more than 140 homes. It's now 50 percent contained.
Full containment is not expected until October.
Lightning sparked the fire.
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