Contents Introduction Habitat Range Evolution of the Greenback Current Greenback status Catch and release fishing How you can help! Related links

Population Declines The decline of the native cutthroat trouts of the American West was caused by over harvest of the fish, habitat destruction by early American settlers, and the artificial introduction of competing non-native trout. After just a few decades of wholesale slaughter by Colorado pioneers, they were mostly wiped out. Their destruction became virtually complete with the introduction of fish hatcheries and competing exotic trout like brooks, rainbows, and browns. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 put a brake on this degradation, but it is only now, a quarter-century later, that "bringing back the natives" has become a top priority in federal land management policy.