Conservation groups file federal lawsuit against National Park Service over Gunsight Lake project

Local conservation groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court which alleges the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act by approving a trout reintroduction project in Gunsight Lake.  

The lawsuit revolves around the park’s plans to reintroduce bull trout and west slope cutthroat trout in Gunsight Lake in hopes that the fish will repopulate the St. Mary drainage. Park biologists argue that moving both native trout species to the high alpine lake will protect them from the threats of hybridization and climate change, according to the project’s environmental assessment.  

West slope cutthroat trout and bull trout have never lived in Gunsight Lake because a waterfall prevented upstream migration. According to the project’s assessment, this will protect the native fish from hybridization because nonnative fish cannot reach the lake, and their own populations will only be able to move downstream.