Nevada Independent: Lahontan cutthroat trout were once wiped from Tahoe. Scientists have them spawning again.

For thousands of years, Lahontan cutthroat trout swam in the expansive waters of Lake Tahoe.

But by 1938, the fish — affected by European settlers’ actions in the Tahoe Basin by such as logging, overfishing, construction of dams and water diversions, and the introduction of non-native species — disappeared.

European settlers offset the lack of large fish by stocking Lake Tahoe with non-native species but for decades, the lake was devoid of Lahontan cutthroat trout.

A Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) project is changing that.

Nevada department of wildlife western regional fisheries supervisor travis hawks holds a rainbow trout captured in incline creek as part of the work described above. (Photo: Jason barnes)