Watershed Restoration: Principles and Practices

Chapter 21: Watershed Restoration and Grazing Practices in the Great Basin: Marys River of Nevada

L. A. Gutzwiller, R. M. McNatt, and R. D. Price

doi: https://doi.org/10.47886/9781888569049.ch21

The Lahontan cutthroat trout is the only salmonid native to the Lahontan basin of northern Nevada, northeastern California, and southeastern Oregon. The Lahontan cutthroat trout was federally listed as an endangered species in 1970 under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and was reclassified as a threatened species in 1975 to facilitate management and allow regulated angling. Historically, Lahontan cutthroat trout occurred throughout the Truckee, Walker, Carson, Quinn, and Humboldt river systems, including Lakes Tahoe, Pyramid, and Walker (La Rivers 1962). This native trout may have occupied as much as 2,210 stream miles of the Humboldt River drainage of northern Nevada (Coffin 1983) but currently occurs in only 318 miles (USFWS 1995). Historically, Lahontan cutthroat trout may have occurred in over 200 stream miles of the Marys River subbasin, a 520-square-mile watershed that drains into the Humboldt River (Figure 21.1); however, only 69 miles are currently occupied (USFWS 1995).