PROTECTION STATUS: Not listed
PETIONED: 1999
RANGE: Less than 5 percent of its former range in the Colorado River drainage in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico
THREATS: Habitat loss and degradation due to development, livestock grazing, road construction for logging and mining projects, decreased water quality and quantity, competition from nonnative fish, hybridization, and whirling disease
POPULATION TREND: Colorado River cutthroat are extremely imperiled and are now found in only 5 percent of their historic range — typically in isolated headwater streams with limited access to other populations. Less than 1 percent of the trout's former range is populated by trout with a high level of genetic integrity. Sixty-two percent of robust populations are found in locations strongly correlated with designated roadless areas, emphasizing the importance of preserving intact wilderness.