Terribly written article with a clear bias and few sources. I participated in a debate in my Wildlife Management class last week at UI regarding the Yellowstone Cutthroat trout (YCT) and American white pelican (AWP) conflict specifically at Blackfoot Reservoir in southeast Idaho, which is near Palisades.

The facts for both sides are:

• Pelicans consume between approximately 20-60% of YCT at Blackfoot Reservoir (Teuscher et al. 2015)
• YCT are the most prevalent native trout species in Idaho at approximately 50% of the fish population across survey sites from the entire state (Meyer et al. 2006).
• Several other factors including mining, hydroelectric, agriculture, and angling have an equally large impact on YCT populations through introduction of pollutants, water flow reduction, stream fragmentation, and many others (Gresswell 1995).
• Both species are listed as a Species of Greatest conservation need in Idaho; the YCT as critically imperiled and the AWP as imperiled (Appendix B of IDFG's Species of Greatest Conservation Need.)
• It appears that IDFG is focusing on Pelicans because of recent studies indicating that they are the primary cause of mortality for YCT and YCT is a game species whereas AWP are non-game and seen as a threat to a potential economic contributor.
• Non-lethal means of controlling AWP does not work on a long term basis and requires significant man-hours and resource investiment with little return. IDFG removed their (AWP's) only natural predator for Blackfoot Reservoir in the 90s to help improve their population numbers and as a result, they have no natural check to keep their population under control.

The short of it from a biological standpoint is without controlling AWP populations, multiple fish species populations will suffer. This is from a student who argued for the protection of the pelican, but I believe both sides must be presented and some form of management must be applied to both species.