Yellowstone Temporarily Closing Buffalo Creek for Native Fish Conservation Project
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. – Beginning Aug. 31, Yellowstone National Park will temporarily close Buffalo Creek, a tributary of Slough Creek in the park’s northern region, to conduct treatment for the removal of invasive fish. The closure is part of ongoing efforts to protect native species, and the creek will reopen to the public on Sept. 7.
Closure Details
Buffalo Creek will be closed to the public from the northern park boundary downstream to its confluence with Slough Creek while biologists apply rotenone, an EPA-approved piscicide, to remove invasive rainbow trout. The treatment will not affect water potability at Slough Creek Campground, and drinking water there will remain safe. Signs will be posted to notify visitors of the closure.
Why This Matters
Buffalo Creek serves as the source population for invasive rainbow trout that have been competing and hybridizing with native Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Slough Creek, Soda Butte Creek, and the Lamar River. Eliminating this source population is essential to securing the long-term survival of Yellowstone cutthroat trout throughout the Lamar River watershed.
Yellowstone cutthroat trout are rarely found in Buffalo Creek, but biologists will relocate any captured through electrofishing ahead of the treatment to waters outside the project area.
About Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout
Yellowstone cutthroat trout are the only trout species native to the park and play a vital ecological role in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, in addition to being highly valued by anglers. Genetically pure populations have declined across their historic range in the Intermountain West due to competition and predation from nonnative fish, loss of genetic integrity from hybridization, and habitat degradation.
To learn more go here Native Fish Conservation Program
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