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

As the Sangre de Christo Mountains, the southernmost extension of the Rockies, emerge from the desert, average termperatures drop sufficiently to support trout.  Historically, in the Rio Grande Valley, these were a distinctive sub-species of Cutthroat.  The original range extended into the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, and even further south.  Today, the most southerly streams are found in high elevation headwaters streams near Santa Fe.

We've developed two data sources to help you find these trout.  Both are distributed in a zip archive containing 5 files.  One is the TU CSI basin habitat overlay.  The other 4 are map overlays of the same region, which color code distribution at the stream-level and land ownership.  (you may need to scroll down to see all 3 images on this page).

The first was developed by the Trout Unlimited Conservation Success Index.  This layer codes habitat quality at the basin level, where brown shows "extirpated basins" (places in the historic range, but no longer supporting cutts, often due to competition with exotic trout species such as brown, rainbow, and brook trout).  Basins where Rio Grand cutts can stil be found are coded (in descending quality): blue, green, yellow.

The other overlays we distribute were converted from a relatively small image (approximately 500x700 pixels) in a "Technical Conservation Assessment" document prepared for the USDA Forest Service.

Because of the limited resolution, it's not the prettiest overlay we've ever created but it is among the more useful, as both stream segments and surrounding land management is color coded.

Stream color coding is:  blue (historic range), red (core populations), magenta (conservation populations), brown (sportfish populations).  A clear background means the land is privately owned or owned by Los Alamos National Labs.  Dark green codes wilderness areas, light green National Forest or Grassland, yellow BLM, gray NPS, and sky blue National Wildlife Refuge.

Sources: (above) Google Earth image with data from Trout Unlimited Conservations Success Index; (below) Google Earth image with data from USDA Forest Service. Map overlays created by WildTroutStreams.com

The two sources are best used together, in combination with the NHD streams layer you can download from the "USA" datasets in the streams section.  Make sure that the TU-CSI layer is below the stream map layer, and adjust the transparency of the latter so you can see the basin coloring scheme clearly while still seeing the stream color coding.  Then turn on the NHD layer.  When you zoom in, your screen will look something like the image below.  Note the registration of the map image overlay isn't perfect, but it's certainly good enough to help you determine which streams are which.

Source Google Earth image with data from Trout Unlimited Conservations Success Index, and USDA Forest Service. Map overlays created by WildTroutStreams.com