Translocation will be necessary in the future for both bull and Westslope cutthroat trout. With increasing temperatures, ranges are shrinking and as populations become geographically and genetically isolated they go into declines. This year there were several movements and reintroduction on a small scale in Banff and Glacier National Parks.
The habitats that have surviving populations will need more restoration and in the future there may only be specific cooler streams that can support these fish. They remain under intense pressures from human habitat incursions, such as damming, sediment and excess nutrients from agriculture, forestry and mining. Westslope are hybridizing with non-native rainbow trout that dominate many streams in Montana. Climate change is expected to accelerate hybridization.
Rising water temperatures will decrease spawning habitats in both species. The map below shows streams that may be unsuitable for bull trout by 2059.
Mitigating these issues will require work on both sides of the border since many fish spawn in tributary streams in Canada and make their way South.
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Threatened fish take historic helicopter ride in Banff National Park