A new CSU study shows that the private fish hatcheries supplying fishing clubs and ranches pump about $1.9 billion into local economies across the 11 western states. "They're very important," Waldmier said of the hatcheries and the dude ranches they supply. "I know one operation down by Bailey called Boxwood Gulch.

Apprehension about potential damage from mussels in Lake Pueblo went up a couple of notches over the weekend after the state confirmed quaggas as well as zebras are in the water.

The June sucker, which is known to live only in Utah Lake and its tributaries, has been listed as an endangered species since 1986, when biologists estimated there were fewer than 1,000 left. In recent years, about 100,000 June suckers have been raised in a hatchery and dropped into the lake.

Scientists examining the sudden and widespread collapse of West Coast salmon returns are pointing to the unusual changes in weather patterns that caused the bottom to fall out of the ocean food web in 2005.

Fifty thousand rainbow trout were killed at the Colorado Division of Wildlife's hatchery in Durango on Sunday night after a seasonal worker forgot to reopen a water valve. The water valve, which supplies fresh water to the trout, had been closed for regular cleaning of the the south raceway.