◆ Game Creek to be treated south of Jackson.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has announced plans to treat Game Creek south of Jackson. Following the treatment, native Snake River cutthroat trout will be restored to the area, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

“Game Creek is a small tributary to Flat Creek and used to be a thriving spawning stream for Snake River Cutthroat Trout,” said Mark Gocke, public information specialist for the Jackson Game and Fish Office. “Historical sampling records from 1953 and 1961 indicate Game Creek was 100 percent cutthroat trout. By 2016, no cutthroat trout were found during any sampling upstream of the highway.”

According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the “disappearance of cutthroat trout can be traced back to two events.”

• The first was the periodic stocking of brook trout between 1941 and 1983.
“This introduction of brook trout was an important factor in the decline of cutthroat trout,” said Gocke.

• The second event was the rerouting of Highway 89 to the west side of the Snake River in the 1960’s.
“This road construction included a new culvert for Game Creek, which no longer allowed for fish passage from Flat Creek,” said Gocke.

According to the Game and Fish, treating a stream in order to remove a fish population from the water way “is not an easy task and can only be done under the right conditions.”

“Luckily, Game Creek provides the conditions and the opportunity for brook trout removal,” Gocke said. “The application of the chemical rotenone is the only approved method for fish removal. Rotenone works by disrupting oxygen uptake within the cells of gill breathing organisms. This means that rotenone does not affect organisms without gills.”

According to information provided by the Wyoming Game and Fish, in order to “remove brook trout from Game Creek, biologists plan to apply rotenone to the stream during one day in the summers of 2020 and 2021.”

“Treatments are conducted on subsequent years in order to make certain all brook trout are removed,” said Gocke. “The application will take place in late August when water levels are low. This allows biologists to apply the least amount of rotenone possible during the year. This time line also allows for the treatment of the stream to take place prior to the brook trout spawn in the fall. Game Creek will be detoxified prior to entering Flat Creek to contain the chemical to that stream.”

Once both treatments are complete, Snake River Cutthroat Trout will be stocked back into Game Creek. Cutthroat eggs will also be stocked to help “establish a self-sustaining population.”