Surviving: The Story of the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout

The Pyramid Lake Lahontan Cutthroat Trout was declared extinct in the 1940’s as a result of a badly planned diversion dam on the Truckee River. Built with no consideration of the downstream Indigenous Peoples of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and their cherished homeland, the dam desiccated the lake and destroyed the habitat of its native fish. However, the fish made a near impossible return, aided by the efforts of biologists, tribal litigators, and a carpenter.
This documentary was completed as part of a graduate study in media innovation at the University of Nevada, Reno. It premiered at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City, California in January of 2019.

[@Shodansixtyone]

My cousin Dan Mosley was the Tribal Fisheries Director and played a role in advancing the health and growth of the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout an amazing story of restoration.

[@KvichakSmith]

What a great story. Thank you for making this documentary.

[@baybornbalkanbaby7277]

Ive been going to this Lake and fishing from the beaches since 1994 when I was 14. I can't tell you how special this place is to me. So much beauty its absolutely breathtaking. Peace and Rest to Paiute Nation in 2021.

[@timwade5157]

Thank you. The lake and its magnificent cutthroat trout deserve all the effort made and legal battles fought to keep Pyramid Lake alive to the 7th generation and beyond. 👍🏼👍🏼

[@banshee1322]

This deserves more views

[@jakeroth3879]

Awesome!!! I miss the old gas station on the left on the way in to the lake and the old man sitting at the table tying flies while his wife minded the store. I would buy a couple of his flies each time for good luck.

[@szilardjako9837]

An important model project, a benefit for the people near Pyramid Lake. This is to be appreciated .

[@Slotmassacre]

Fantastic

[@MushiFrogg]

Really wonderful video. Thank you for showcasing the care and community behind this story of resilience. (I'm also glad to know that the pronunciation "kwee-wee" isn't quite right!)

[@sturgeon.striperandsharks6971]

Amazing video i fished with my brother here and knew there was a long history but you made a amazing video about the history next time i go i will visit the musems forsure

[@MikeSevon]

Great story, with all the players who brought back the lake dwelling LCT. Tom Trelease wold have been proud to be honored by this documentary.

[@garyhelman5585]

Fantastic fish fantastic people involved

[@charlesloftis2920]

I highly commend every contributor to this success story, and especially to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe I say congratulations for achieving your vision.

[@mikekuczynski1552]

I am glade I found this , it’s very important for people to understand what has happened here and to understand what we are doing to the earth . Wish more people viewed this . Thanks to everyone who helped. Happy Trails

[@philipdennis-rh7uj]

It's my belief...that in ancient times the lake was joined with it's sister which is Eagle lake in Lassen county in the east. It also has the Lahotan...

[@calcrappie8507]

That tiny stream on the man's property... Lahontans seem to have oversized mouths yet they survived on a likely limited terrestrial diet in that little trickle of a stream. They were waiting for the big water to return or for someone to realize these were really survivors of the much larger lake variety.

[@toadhermit7238]

This was a wonderful video, thank you

[@CharlieWest00]

how did you learn all this? so cool

[@antoniahall7507]

God bless Steve Doudy and Don Duff...maybe we can bring a healthy cut population back to Lake Tahoe.

[@jeremyatkinson4976]

How are they keeping the original strain going, given that there's likely to be hybredesation between the two populations that the lake was restocked with?

[@chalillofviso8980]

I'm sure they stopped using Summitt strain years ago....and they only focus on pilot peak strain.

[@ryanlogan2911]

Is the pilot peak they speak of the pilot peak at the edge of the Salt desert on the Utah border?

[@chalillofviso8980]

Yes!! Crazy uh!! There's a small creek just outside of las Vegas (carpenter creek) that has LCT.

[@triggerhappy2596]

I can't wait for the day we have cut throat trout in walker lake again

[@Bipolarlife6969]

Hawthorne is a dirt hole.

[@noel3422]

So much more could be talked about on land use and the topology of this unique place in the world that a person with even limited knowledge of streams, how water flows and the use of water could see looking at google earth how easily fragile water systems can change from flowing all year to intermittent remnants of past health due to really two major uses of water, the first many decades ago was watering cattle, many small ponds were made on owners property by the army corps of engineers to water cattle, it was a small boondoggle mostly done on tiny brooks that at the time seemed harmless then, but add that to ag which came later in the history of water use and you have a massive problem of which gnp is more important and who gets or needs more water and along come dams for ag, the rest is history, all those dashed creek lines on a topo map that depict intermittent streams most likely flowed most of the year, it's deceiving to think they did not.

[@thomasoushin1969]

👍👍👍