KMZs and other files showing the distribution of Bonneville Cutthroat are available from the download system.

The Bonneville cutts have a fairly limited distribution, principally in north-central Utah (not far from Salt Lake City and Provo), southern Idaho (SE of Pocatello), and southwestern Wyoming.  There are isolated populations in southern Utah, and eastern Nevada.  We've located 3 datasets to help you find them.  1) a distribution map published by Fisheries magazine; 2) a GIS dataset for Idaho only, published by StreamNet; and 3) the TU CSI index.

Distribution Map in Fisheries Magazine

We've discovered that low resolution images rendered by GIS systems can provide a surprising amount of useful information.  In November 2010, Fisheries magazine published the distribution map shown on the left (the original image was about 700 x 900 pixels). We copied the map outline, erased the background and, basin by basin, created image overlays in Google Earth.

Lest you feel this process isn't particularly accurate, check out the image in the next section, which shows the Idaho GIS dataset rendered on top of this overlay.

Image Source:  (left) Fisheries, vol 35 no 11, November 2010; (below) the same map outline rendered as an image overlay in Google Earth.  KMZ by WildTroutStreams.com

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Idaho StreamNet Map

Idaho published the GIS dataset they created for their management plan (also in the download system) as a shapefile on the StreamNet.org website.  We've converted it to a KMZ.

In the photo, the magenta lines (within Idaho only) are generated from the Idaho GIS database, and the blue lines are from the image overlay from Fisheries Magazine.  They clearly provide essentially the same information.  The major advantage of the Idaho KMZ is that you can click on the stream and a balloon will pop up with additional information.

There are also useful tables in the management report PDF which you'll probably want to refer to if you're considering an expedition to catch Bonnevilles in Idaho.

Sources:  Idaho Fish and Game data set published by StreamNet.org.  KMZ by WildTroutStreams.com

TU CSI

TU publishes its "Conservation Success Index" dataset for the Bonneville cutthroat.  This is basin-level data, coded for habitat quality.  The brown basins are places in the historic range where the Bonneville cutt is now extirpated.  Colored basins show where the sub-species still lives.  Habitat quality is coded Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red in reverse order of quality.

The TU data is a useful complement to either of the other datasets, helping you to hone in on the streams that are most likely to be productive.  In addition, the TU data includes some basins in central Nevada which don't show up in the other data.  These are basins outside of the historic range which were transplanted (you can read abou them in the Nevada Conservation Agreement/Strategy document in the download system).

Source: Trout Unlimited Conservation Success Index