Chapter 1. Westslope cutthroat trout

Abstract

The westslope cutthroat trout inhabits streams on both sides of the Continental Divide. On the east side of the divide, they are distributed mostly in Montana but also occur in some headwaters in Wyoming and southern Alberta (Behnke 1992). They are in the Missouri Basin downstream to about 60 km below Great Falls and in the headwaters of the Judith, Milk, and Marias rivers. On the west side of the Continental Divide the subspecies occurs in the upper Kootenai River; the Clark Fork drainage in Montana and Idaho downstream to the falls on the Fend Oreille River; the Spokane River above Spokane Falls; the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe drainages; and the Clearwater and the Salmon river basins. Several disjunct populations of westslope cutthroat trout persist in the mid-Columbia River basin (Behnke 1992) in the Methow, Entiat, and Wenatchee river basins in Washington and in the John Day River in Oregon. Behnke (1992) considered all cutthroat trout native to the upper and middle Columbia, South Saskatchewan, and upper Missouri basins to be this subspecies.

Parent Publication

• Conservation assessment for inland cutthroat trout

Citation

McIntyre, John D.; Rieman, Bruce E. 1995. Chapter 1. Westslope cutthroat trout. In: Young, Michael K., tech. ed. Conservation assessment for inland cutthroat trout. General Technical Report RM-256. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. p. 1-15