Biologists help rare fish flee New Mexico fire

As a lightning-sparked fire charred thousands of acres in southwestern New Mexico, biologists and firefighters used helicopters and trucks for an unusual evacuation. They captured 250 Gila trout — a threatened species — from a creek in southwestern New Mexico and are moving them to a hatchery in the opposite corner of the state. Ranger Al Koss of the Wilderness Ranger District said Wednesday was a perfect time to move the fish because the fire's intensity had diminished and the flames were still a couple of miles from the South Diamond Creek. Biologists rode to the creek on horseback, then used electroshocking devices to temporarily stun the trout so they could quickly scoop them into a net. "You've got to be pretty fast," said John Kramer, a staff member who has helped with two other fish relocations during his 20 years working on the Gila National Forest. The fish were loaded into a large bucket and taken out of the wilderness via helicopter to a special truck waiting to ferry them to a hatchery in northern New Mexico. The fire has blackened nearly six square miles — more than 3,600 acres — in the Aldo Leopold Wilderness north of Silver City. Forest officials decided to evacuate the trout when the fire started moving toward the creek. The fish can hide as the fire passes through the watershed, but Koss said the resulting ash could impact their habitat. Forest officials are concerned about the Gila trout because it is classified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened. The fish — the only native trout in the Gila River — is found in a handful of counties in New Mexico and Arizona...AP

Those fish must not have been in the wilderness, where no mechanical equipment or motorized vehicles are allowed. In other words, no stun guns or helicoptors.