Yellowstone National Park officials say nonnative brook trout have been newly discovered in Soda Butte Creek, prompting the resumption of the Soda Butte Creek Native Fish Restoration Project near the Northeast Entrance from August 14-18, 2023.
According to a park news release, the fish restoration project wrapped up in 2016 after nonnative trout were completely removed from the waterway.
The release said brook trout will quickly displace native Yellowstone cutthroat trout and eventually threaten the entire cutthroat trout population throughout the Lamar River watershed if the nonnative species is not dealt with this month.
Soda Butte Creek will be closed to the public from the Northeast Entrance park boundary to Ice Box Canyon from August 14-18 while biologists apply rotenone, an EPA-approved piscicide, to remove the brook trout.
During the week of August 7, the native cutthroat trout will be removed from the treatment area by electroshocking; salvaged cutthroat trout will be held in the Soda Butte Creek watershed’s upper untreated tributaries.
Cutthroat trout will be released back into Soda Butte Creek once treatment to remove the brook trout is complete.
