10/17/07 Costly Fish Foul Up

Is something fishy? For the past five years the Colorado Division of Wildlife has invested upwards of $320,000 a year to restore the endangered greenback cutthroat trout in its native tributaries. What once seemed a noble endeavor appears to been but an expensive faux pas and nearly 20 years wasted on a federal and state project. Apparently thousands of tax payers dollars have been spent saving the wrong fish, a common Colorado cutthroat that looks amazing like it's rare greenback cousin. Like an episode of Law and Order it finally took DNA testing to discern which fish was which. One has to wonder given the fact the two are virtually identical why this wasn't considered in the first place? If it takes DNA testing to tell the trout apart, why the countless dollars and manpower hours to save the greenback if you can't discern it from a common cutthroat? Considered extinct in 1937 due to over fishing and mine pollution the greenback cutthroat surprised biologists when a few were discovered in the 1950's. But will we ever know if those fish were truly greenbacks or simply cutthroat in greenback habitat? Sounds fishy !