Yellowstone Lake Invaders: Bolstering the ranks

Yellowstone Lake Invaders is part of series that will take a look at the efforts to restore the Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake and will be featured in the Wednesday's Outdoors page.

YELLOWSTONE - It takes a village. Everyone knows that saying. It takes a village to help preserve the Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake by removing any nonnative species.

Wordy, absolutely, but the point remains the same. When it comes to tackling the problem of nonnative species in Yellowstone Lake, it's an issue that needs to be addressed on a few different fronts.

First up is financing, helping out in that area Californians Julia and George Argyros who setup a multi-year $500,000 grant to help re-establish the Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

The Argyros grant to the National Park Foundation goes to the Yellowstone Forever organization, Yellowstone National Park's official nonprofit partner, to help with their Native Fish Conservation Program (NFCP).

"The Argyros family's support exemplifies the power of philanthropy," said Will Shafroth, president of the National Park Foundation. "Inspired by their love of fishing, Julia and George are helping to revive a once thriving native fish population that is such a critical part of the park."

As an avid angler herself Julia Argyros has also started a fly-fishing school for women in Sun Valley, Idaho, among her and her families many other philanthropic acts.

"Because of my passion for fishing, I understand the importance of native species and how we can all help with their preservation," said Julia Argyros, president of the Argyros Family Foundation. "My family and I are honored to support these critical efforts to save the cutthroat trout at Yellowstone National Park."

The Argyros family's donation is part of the National Park Foundation's Centennial Campaign for America's National Parks. To date, this comprehensive fundraising campaign to strengthen and enhance the future of America's treasured national parks has raised more than $500 million in private donations from individuals, foundations, and companies.

Native to Yellowstone Lake the Yellowstone cutthroat have been the dominant species in the lake for thousands of years. But in 1994 their supremacy was challenged by nonnative species, more specifically predatory lake trout.

The lake trout in Yellowstone Lake were likely in the lake before 1994 but not to the levels that eventually decimated the cutthroat population.

Essentially, the lake trout have been the worst roommates to the cutthroat by treating the place as if it is theirs, eating their food, eating them, it has been a rough go for the cutthroat.

The lower cutthroat numbers also threw the Yellowstone food-chain for a loop. Many of Yellowstone's super star animals from grizzly bears to bald eagles depended on the cutthroat as a food source; with diminished population those animals were forced to go elsewhere looking for food.

"They were the dominate species in the lake for thousands of years," said Yellowstone chief fisheries biologist Todd Koel. "They're a keystone species that underpinned this food web that included bald eagles, osperys, black bears, grizzly bears, river otters and all of these really charismatic species that people come to Yellowstone to see. These lake trout are big predators and native to the Great Lakes - are now introduced in the West – and our cutthroat trout evolved without any predators in the lake and were highly vulnerable to being preyed upon by these lake trout, and they were."

The NPCP primary purpose is to restore the cutthroat population and does receive an annual $1 million grant. And now with the Argyros' grant that only helps further the cause.

The program has received plenty of generous donations over the years but the grant put up by the Argyroses is the largest they have seen. The kindness of those willing to donate, large and small, has certainly been inspiring to see but just as exciting, the money donated is having an effect. Efforts to rid the nonnative species from Yellowstone Lake have been working and in turn the cutthroat population has grown as well as the return to the natural food chain.

"This one is definitely the largest single gift we've received at one time," said Koel. "Since the large donated dollars have come in to support the program we've seen annual increases in the cutthroat trout within in the lake and spawning tributary streams. And we're seeing more use of those streams from grizzly bears and black bears, which is really cool to see."

Correction: This story has been edited to show that the Argyros grant went to the National Park Foundation.