Back in April, I wrote a post about the Fluvial Grayling — and the politically motivated attempts to keep it off the endangered species list. The US Fish & Wildlife Service simply ignored the reams of good science and essentially said there isn’t any difference between the fluvial and other species of Grayling (false).

That excuse is pretty clearly a sham, and the Fly Fishing in Yellowstone blog weaves together an excellent post which deftly skewers that assertion — one he launches with a personal observation about fishing and aging.

About ten years ago we noticed that it was becoming harder and harder to catch a Grayling on the upper Gibbon. For years we’d enjoy a walk to Grebe Lake, take a few, smile, and walk out again. As the legs became more like rubber we could still take our gray ghost in Wolf Lake. Then as rubber turned to spaghetti, we’d take this jewel of the river just a few steps from the pull-outs along the Virginia Cascade Drive, or in the runs around Norris Campground.

We’re usually on the upper Gibbon 2 -3 times a week. The Grayling is not in our posts this year, and we started early. .. The catching of this fish didn’t become a pilgrimage for us until about 4 – 5 years ago, when we noticed that they were particularly difficult to catch in Yellowstone National Park. Granted, it’s possible to catch the Fluvial Grayling other places – but not many: maybe none if the USFWS has it’s way.

He goes on to pull together an astounding number of sources, painting an unpretty picture of a government agency ignoring its mission — one that’s clearly serving a political master instead of a scientific one (or the public).

Well worth a read.

[tags]fly fishing, fishing, fluvial grayling, ESA, fly fishing in yellowstone[/tags]

Posted in Environment.