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

Greenback cutts were considered Endangered until the 1990s.  Even after several decades of concerted conservation work, they are still Threatened across their entire range, which covers much of the "Eastern Range" in Colorado, encompassing the Arkansas River and South Platte River basins.   The 1996 conservation plan listed only about 9 places where greenbacks survived.  Now, the 2009 5-year report lists several dozen places.  So, apparently, progress has been made.

Two news items shook the Greenback world in recent years.  In 2007 a biologist argued that many of the trout that were being restored as greenbacks were actually Colorado River cutts (the 2009 report spends a bunch of time trying to discredit this finding).  Then, in 2009, an apparently native strain of greenback cutts was discovered alive and well outside of its normally reckoned historic range in western Utah (yellow arrow in the photo).

We've provided two data sources to help you find greenbacks, which we'll describe below the photo.  Both datasets can be downloaded via the Download System.

Sources:  Google Earth image with streams and lakes marked by WildTroutStreams.com from a list published by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  Basin data:  TU Conservation Success Index.

Appendix I of the 2009 Greenback Cutthroat Trout 5-Year Review

Every 5 years, species listed as Endangered or Threatened under the Endangered Species Act get a report which updates their status.  2009 was the last one published for Greenback cutts (and is available for download).  An appendix to this report lists all of the waterbodies (lakes and streams) where Greenback cutthroat are known to live.  The list does not make it easy to locate these places.  It provides only the name of the water body and the basin (Arkansas or South Platte).  There is no geo-location information at all.  Few names are unique (check out how many "Bear Creeks" there are in Colorado).  Nevertheless,we believe we managed to locate all but a few of the named waterbodies (and even a few of the "unnamed tributaries") by using the National Map's search facility, and by cross referencing ambiguous water bodies with general web searches and Colorado Fish and Game maps and regulations.  We also took advantage of plain common sense (e.g. a "Bear Creek" that is an outlet to a lake that holds greenback cutts is probably the one we want).

Streams and lakes are coded Red, Green, and Yellow.  Red bodies are closed to fishing according to 2011 Colorado regulations.  Green bodies are explicitly listed as open to catch and release fishing using flies or lures (though some of these bodies may have closed seasons).  Yellow bodies do not seem to have any special regulations.

This coding is provided to help you plan an excursion.  BEFORE GOING OUT, PLEASE CONFIRM INDEPENDENTLY WHETHER SPECIAL REGULATIONS APPLY TO THE WATERBODIES YOU'RE PLANNING TO EXPLORE.  WildTroutStreams.com cannot be held responsible for errors and ommission in this dataset.  It's simply too easy for errors to have crept in, and in any event, special regulations can change.

TU CSI

TU publishes its "Conservation Success Index" dataset for the greenback cutthroat.  This is basin-level data, coded for habitat quality.  The brown basins are places in the historic range where the species 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 dataset, helping you to hone in on the streams that are most likely to be productive.  In addition, the TU data includes some basins which don't show up in 5-year review list.