Our nation’s commitment to protect its most vulnerable wild resources is one of our greatest strengths. Every day across America, remarkable recoveries link collaborative efforts to conservation successes. This includes the recovery of the Apache trout, which we celebrated this month in Phoenix, as the beneficiary of a 50-plus-year history of partnerships and science-driven progress under one of the nation’s most significant conservation laws: the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The restoration of the Apache trout is a unique success story that has a great deal to teach us as we double down on our conservation efforts nationwide and in the face of a starkly changing climate. Arizona’s state fish, the Apache trout, once faced extinction due to threats like overfishing and habitat loss. But through decades of collaboration, we brought the species back from the brink. President Biden’s Investing in America agenda provided groundbreaking investments to allow the Apache trout to return to its home and use 60 miles of Arizona’s waters that it hasn’t been able to fully access in decades. This, in turn, has contributed to the species� revival and ultimate delisting from the ESA, the first trout and the first sportfish to ever be de-listed due to recovery.
I just celebrated another year as a federal employee and was prepared to dedicate the rest of my career to civil service. I always knew I wanted to work to protect natural resources, and the s… Read moreCoconino Voices: Diary of a federal worker facing cuts
