OURAY, Colo. – A call from the Gold Mountain Fire Incident Management Team came to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) aquatic biologist Eric Gardunio late Tuesday night. After weeks of uncertainty, fire personnel and the U.S. Forest Service had secured a short window of time for CPW to drive into a small mountain creek for the chance to rescue a unique native fish from the Gold Mountain Fire.
Gardunio and a team of 10 CPW staff traveled into Nate Creek on the west side of Cimarron Ridge with the escort of multiple fire management staff the morning of July 15, knowing they only had until 1 p.m. to capture as many Uncompahgre cutthroat trout as possible before weather conditions would make working in the active burn area too dangerous. After weeks of uncertainty, Gardunio’s team was able to secure 103 of the trout to transport to a state fish hatchery for safe keeping.
The cutthroat trout in Nate Creek contain unique genetics that do not exist anywhere else. The fish are an irreplaceable remnant of the native cutthroat trout populations that historically occupied numerous creeks in the Uncompahgre River system around Ouray and Ridgway.
“These beautiful fish represent a living part of the history of this place,” Gardunio said. “They also fill a unique role in the function of the ecosystems they inhabit. Currently, CPW is trying to restore them to many of the streams where they have been lost. They are resilient and have persisted in harsh environments for thousands of years, and they can flourish again if we give them a chance.”
The morning Gardunio set out in pursuit of the rare trout, the Gold Mountain Fire had already burned 37,259 acres across Ouray, Montrose and Gunnison Counties. It was estimated at only 12% containment.
Gardunio had watched as the fire spread since igniting June 27 northeast of Ouray. As it continued to grow toward Cimarron Ridge and Silver Jack Reservoir, anxiety only increased as he wondered if there would be an opportunity to access the closed national forest to rescue native fish.
“It was inescapable from a stress standpoint,” Gardunio said. “Every time I looked out my window, where I have a perfect view in the direction of Nate Creek, I would see a mushroom cloud of smoke coming from Nate Creek. I didn’t think this would happen, but all of a sudden the ball started rolling.”
The morning of July 15, Gardunio and his team traveled up Owl Creek Pass Road, observing the morning sunrise as lingering smoke rose off of the burned mountain. Looking down into Devils Canyon where the Nate Creek salvage would take place, crew members saw sections of mountainside that were fully burned, containing only the smoldering skeletons of trees interspersed with patches of green that had been spared by the fire.
Crewmembers were warned to be aware of falling trees and still burning roots under the ash that can be dangerous cavities to step into.
“It was a new experience for our crew members to go into an active wildfire zone,” Gardunio said. “After hiking through burned and smoldering forest, it was a relief to get to the creek and do the work we know how to do – catching fish.”
From the Owl Creek Pass Road, the team broke into three units to access the stream in different sections. They descended three-quarters of a mile and 400 vertical feet through the burned forest into the canyon. Once at the creek, they used electrofishing backpacks to momentarily stun fish and make them easier to net and place into buckets of water from the creek.
The three units covered roughly three-quarters of a mile of stream and netted 103 cutthroat trout ranging between 3 and 7 inches in length.
“We knew that we needed to get into Nate Creek before any large-scale rain events that may eliminate the population,” Gardunio said. “Despite the heavily burned areas around Nate Creek, the stream ecosystem was still in great shape when we were collecting these fish. We made efforts to only pull fish out of around one-third of the occupied habitat so that we have a representative number of fish out of harm’s way, but still leave fish in the stream to repopulate in the event that ash flows are not intense enough to eradicate the population. We are dividing the risk.
“I am happy with the number of fish we were able to rescue. I think that it was almost exactly what we were hoping to get.”
Fire crew members and CPW staff carried 5-gallon buckets filled with fish and water back up through the burn and out of the canyon to be loaded into a hatchery truck. Just as fire personnel predicted, wind directions began to change as the team departed the area at 12:50 p.m.
Once loaded into a fish hatchery truck by Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery Manager Seth Firestone, the cutthroat took a roughly 160-mile ride to CPW’s Rifle Falls Fish Hatchery where there was available isolation unit space.
Finding space was also a challenge in a time in which many CPW hatchery isolation units are occupied by greenback cutthroats rescued from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Leadville and Hotchkiss national fish hatcheries because of threats to the hatcheries from the Willow Fire.
Wild fish transported to a state fish hatchery are kept in an isolation unit so that there is no risk of any potential disease spread from the wild fish to the hatchery-raised fish at the facility. CPW regulations only allow for one strain of fish to be held in each isolation facility to maintain genetic integrity and prevent disease transmission.
“The Nate Creek cutthroats arrived in good condition after collection and transport to the Rifle Falls isolation facility,” said Rifle Falls Hatchery Manager Gary George. “The fish were sorted by size prior to bringing them into the facility and placing them into two spring fed circular tanks. Initially, the fish will be fed a naturally supplemented diet prior to transitioning them onto a pelleted fish feed containing nutrients, minerals and vitamins to maintain their health and growth. Hatchery staff will feed and clean the tanks daily to maintain an optimal living environment.”
‘Communication and coordination was unprecedented’
Gardunio credited the guidance of firefighting personnel and partnerships with the U.S. Forest Service for making the mission possible.
“Having the fire in our backyard has resulted in many friends and family members of mine being involved in the Gold Mountain Fire along with thousands of other dedicated people,” Gardunio said. “I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to see the professionalism, dedication and heroism of the people who are battling this fire. We were only able to do what we are good at because they prioritized this resource and our safe access to the burn area. They are the heroes who made rescuing these fish possible.”
Teamwork across agencies is critical to these efforts, as access to the stream would not have been possible without prior planning and coordination.
“Having established the relationship with Colorado Parks and Wildlife was integral to accomplishing this mission on such a condensed timeline,” said Valerie Thompson, Fish and Aquatic Program Manager with the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests. “In my 26 years of experience, I have never had such a smooth field operation – in a hazard zone, no less. The level of coordination and communication was unprecedented, from the Montrose CPW aquatic biologists, technicians and District Wildlife Managers to the Gold Mountain Wildfire personnel, including resource advisors, agency administrators, division supervisors and fire crews. Everyone worked so hard to ensure the success and safety of the fish rescue operation. We all had a shared sense of accomplishment and celebration when that hatchery truck drove off the fire with 103 live fish.”
Gold Mountain Fire officials are working diligently to protect not only homes and property in the vicinity of the fire but also all the watershed tributaries in the area. Officers from CPW’s wildlife offices and state parks have also been assisting with fire operations on the ground, working road blocks and enforcing implementation of closure areas.
“The potential threats of the Gold Mountain Fire on Nate Creek and impacts to the Colorado River cutthroat trout include more sediment in the water, lower water quality and higher stream temperatures,” said Gold Mountain Fire Incident Commander Rodney Redinger. “Colorado Parks and Wildlife has been a great partner throughout this incident, and helping them get in there to protect this important species was an easy call to make.”
Impacts from fire to fish populations have been well documented by CPW, and the effects can continue long after fires have been extinguished.
“While the fire itself and aggressive fire suppression with retardant drops pose a risk to the fish, the primary concern is post-fire debris flows of ash and massive habitat destruction associated with monsoon rain events,” said CPW Senior Aquatic Biologist Jim White. “Flooding events can introduce fine sediment and ash into streams, covering spawning gravels, eggs and fry as well as coating fish gills and reducing their surface area for oxygen uptake, potentially leading to suffocation.
“Post-fire flooding can also lead to chemical irritation, reduced water quality and increased metabolic demands on fish, all of which can cause additional stress or even mortality.”
‘Tracking vulnerable populations’
CPW has worked for decades to protect native cutthroat trout from numerous other threats including loss of genetic diversity, habitat degradation, competition, predation and hybridization with non-native trout species.
“Our fisheries monitoring efforts are critical for tracking these vulnerable populations, enabling timely management actions to protect and preserve these unique and aesthetic cutthroat trout lineages within our state,” White said.
Nate Creek is a tributary to the Uncompahgre River. In 2007, it was discovered it held a conservation population of Uncompahgre cutthroat trout. These fish are Colorado River cutthroat trout that have unique genetics that CPW biologists now identify as “Uncompahgre cutthroat trout.”
Fish with similar genetics were rescued from the path of the Stoner Mesa Fire outside of Rico in 2025. But what makes the Nate Creek cutthroat unique is the presence of a genetic marker referred to as the “Nate Creek Haplotype.” Nate Creek is the only stream known to contain the native cutthroat trout that once occupied the headwater streams of the Uncompahgre River drainage near Ridgway and Ouray, and this marker is representative of that rare history.
“Green lineage, or ‘Uncompahgre’ Colorado River cutthroat trout are recognized as the native cutthroat to the Upper Dolores, Gunnison and Colorado River basins,” White said. “By analyzing fin clips from fish collected in Nate Creek, our aquatic research team has identified rare genetic markers called haplotypes that make this population unique to the Uncompahgre River basin. In fact, it may be the only remnant population of cutthroats left in the basin.”
CPW plans to keep the cutthroat trout from Nate Creek at the Rifle Falls Fish Hatchery until after the fire incident is concluded and there is no longer a threat to water quality that could threaten their survival.
“We are looking at a couple of scenarios to either restock the fish back into Nate Creek once they are out of danger,” Gardunio said. “We may also replicate this population in an isolated lake where the non-native fish have to be removed first. We are super relieved we got the opportunity to get these fish out of harm’s way.”
Written by John Livingston. John is the Southwest region public information officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
