Action timeline

December 1999 – The Center, along with a coalition of groups, filed a scientific petition to list the Colorado River cutthroat trout as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

January 2001 – Along with our allies, the Center filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to process our 1999 petition.

November 5, 2001 – An analysis released by the Western Native Trout Campaign — a coalition of groups including the Center for Biological Diversity — demonstrated that thriving native trout populations, including the Colorado River cutthroat, are strongly correlated with roadless areas.

April 2004 – The Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would not consider the Center’s petition to list the cutthroat trout as threatened or endangered.

September 7, 2006 – In response to a Center suit, a federal judge ruled that the Service must consider the Center’s petition to list the cutthroat trout, overturning the Service’s April 2004 decision.

June 13, 2007 – The Service determined that despite a dramatic reduction in its previous range and numbers, the Colorado cutthroat did not warrant federal protection as threatened or endangered.

January 14, 2009 – The Center filed a notice of intent to sue over the Service’s refusal to list the Colorado River cutthroat trout.

November 2, 2009 – A study, published in Conservation Biology and authored by the Center’s Endangered Species Director Noah Greenwald, found that a 2007 Bush administration policy wrongfully limited protections for five species, including the Colorado River cutthroat.

November 24, 2009 –  The Center filed a suit that challenged the Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2007 decision to deny the Colorado River Cutthroat trout protection under the Endangered Species Act.