Welcome to the Lahontan Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office! Our office is integral in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's efforts to protect and restore threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout populations in the Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Pyramid and Walker Lake Basins and endangered Cui-ui in Pyramid Lake, in close partnership with tribes and other key partners. We are the California-Great Basin Region lead for the National Fish Passage Program and fish passage priorities in the State of Nevada.

Latest News

Colorful fish art hanging from a string.
For Parents and Educators
Get Outdoors with a Monster of a Fish - The Lahontan Cutthroat Trout
In June during National Get Outdoors Month, Lahontan National Fish Hatchery Complex in Gardnerville, Nevada provided a Lahontan cutthroat trout or LCT outdoor learning experience for Douglas County Recreation Adventure Camp. The Adventure Camp students ranged from kindergarten to fifth grade and...
A jet black, scaly snake with a burnt orange colored face curled up in some grass
Endangered Species Act
Fighting for Endangered Species - Just Below the Surface
Fifty years ago, facing the catastrophic loss of species across the country, the nation passed a landmark law which mobilized a generation of conservation. The Endangered Species Act was a collective commitment to protect and preserve biodiversity across the globe – for all creatures great and...
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About Us

The Lahontan Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office is located in Reno, Nevada and is one of three facilities within the Lahontan National Fish Hatchery Complex.  Our office supports recovery and restoration of native fishes and their habitat across Nevada and Eastern California. Lahontan Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office also works with multiple partners to advance conservation of tribal resources, including the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Washoe Tribe of California and Nevada, and Walker River Paiute Tribe.

What We Do

Our biologists support recovery and restoration of native fishes and their habitat by:

  • Managing the reintroduction of the lake form of Lahontan cutthroat trout in the Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Pyramid and Walker Lake Basins with our partners for conservation and recreational fishing.
  • Managing Cui-ui recovery in Pyramid Lake in partnership with the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.
  • Managing and advancing conservation hatchery principles at Lahontan National Fish Hatchery.
  • Lead for California-Great Basin Region National Fish Passage Program.
  • Providing coordination and technical assistance for fish passage fish passage
    Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.

    Learn more about fish passage     improvement projects throughout the State of Nevada.
  • Researching and monitoring fish populations to ensure conservation and recovery strategies are achieved through time, often in collaboration with University researchers.
  • Developing and managing in-stream flows in the Truckee River for cottonwood recruitment and migrating fish.
  • Assisting with habitat improvement projects that work towards watershed connectivity in high priority conservation waters.

Our Organization

Juvenile Northern Pike in aquarium at Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery, South Dakota
The Fish and Aquatic Conservation program leads aquatic conservation efforts for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We are committed to tackling the nation’s highest priority aquatic conservation and recreational challenges to conserve, restore, and enhance fisheries for future generations.
Program
Falls Church,VA
A person is walks through a large wide culvert that passes under a gravel road. A small river runs through the culvert.
Across the country, millions of barriers are fragmenting rivers, blocking fish migration, and putting communities at higher risk to flooding. Improving fish passage is one of the most effective ways to help conserve vulnerable species while building safer infrastructure for communities and...
Program
150 Years. National Fish Hatchery System.” in front of glossy orange eggs against a white background.
The National Fish Hatchery System works to support healthy, self-sustaining populations of fish and other aquatic species across the country. Every year we raise and stock over 100 million fish to support the recovery and restoration of imperiled species, recreational fishing, and Tribal...
Program

Our Species

Cui-ui (Chasmistes cujus)

Cui-ui were listed as endangered in 1967 and are believed to be the last genetically pure member of the lake sucker genus Chasmistes. They are a long-lived fish that are known to live up to 45 years of age and are only found in Pyramid Lake. They are obligate freshwater stream spawners.   

Roy H. holding a Cui-ui sucker at Marble Bluff Fish Passage and Research Facility.
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Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi)

The Pilot Peak strain Lahontan cutthroat trout represents the original lake form that evolved in ancient Lake Lahontan and existed in the Truckee, Tahoe and Walker Lake Basins. Once thought to be extinct, transplanted Lahontan cutthroat trout were found in the Pilot Peak Mountains along the Nevada/Utah border in the late 1970s. Utilizing genetics of museum mounts from 1872 to 1911 of fish known to be from the Truckee River Basin, it was determined that the Lahontan cutthroat trout in the Pilot Mountains were descendants of the original Truckee Basin Lahontan cutthroat trout.  

Through years of careful genetic management and refining conservation broodstock broodstock
The reproductively mature adults in a population that breed (or spawn) and produce more individuals (offspring or progeny).

Learn more about broodstock strategies, the genetic legacy of the original lake form Lahontan cutthroat trout was secured at Lahontan National Fish Hatchery. The Lahontan National Fish Hatchery Complex began stocking Pilot Peak Lahontan cutthroat trout into Pyramid Lake in 2006, in collaboration with the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. True to their genetic potential, the Pilot Peak strain in Pyramid Lake exhibits life history traits found in the original population such as large size, long life span, late at reaching sexual maturity and piscivory.

Roy H. holding a large Lahontan cutthroat trout at Marble Bluff Fish Passage and Research Station.
Image Details

Location and Contact Information