Yellowstone National Park just announced that Buffalo Creek, a tributary of Slough Creek out in northern end of the Park, will be closed from August 31 – September 7. The closure is for park biologists to continue working on native fish restoration projects in the park.
The closure is in effect for the entirety of Buffalo Creek from where it enters the park in the north, to its confluence with Slough Creek.
Buffalo Creek is one of the many streams in Yellowstone that has an ample population of nonnative fish, which threatens the survival and genetic purity of the park’s native cutthroat trout. This treatment will use rotenone, a safe, time-tested piscicide, to get rid of the invasive rainbow trout within Buffalo Creek.
The Park and its biologists want the public to know that this treatment won’t impact the water quality, or any fish, downstream in Slough Creek.
“The treatment will not affect the potability of water at Slough Creek Campground and will be safe to drink,” the Park wrote in a statement. “Signs will be posted notifying the public of the closures.”
Rainbow trout are a particular problem in Yellowstone because they can easily hybridize with cutthroat. This decreases the amount of genetically pure cutthroat on the landscape, endangering their long-term survival. While Yellowstone cutthroat haven’t historically been prevalent in Buffalo Creek, biologists are hopeful this treatment will allow the fish to have another stronghold throughout the Lamar River watershed.