Glacier National Park is one of America’s last strongholds of native fish and wildlife but that distinction is a risk today. After 10,000 years of dominance, Glacier’s greatest aquatic predator, the bull trout, is vanishing from beneath the surface of the lakes on the western slopes of the Continental Divide. In just 30 years, Glacier’s native bull trout populations have plummeted to the point that their survival is in jeopardy. The decline of bull trout in the Park’s Westside lakes is directly related to the invasion and establishment of non-native lake trout. Scientists, managers and concerned citizens are working together to understand how best to re-establish the bull trout and restore the native biological integrity to Glacier’s aquatic systems.

Thus, the Glacier National Park Fund felt it imperative to help fund research to preserve Glacier’s native bull trout. The current project is evaluating the bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) population in Glacier National Park’s Quartz Lake to establish a baseline regarding population characteristics. These data are needed given the high likelihood that the population characteristics will change with the recent invasion of non-native lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) which were first reported in the lake in 2005. This causes the Park great concern as it may mean a disappearance of bull trout in Quartz Lake. The loss of native fish can lead to upsetting the delicate balance of our ecosystem and action must be taken today.