The Bull Trout Show
04 - Death By A Thousand Cuts with Lorne Fitch
The forest reserve along Alberta’s eastern slopes was established over a century ago, in part to protect the watersheds that provide water for drinking and agricultural activity further downstream. Yes, it is a human-centric perspective, but one that seemed to work until recent years. In the 21st century, gone is the true wilderness of Bighorn Country, marred by countless intrusions allowing human access for industry and recreation that have led to landscape degradation. Among the casualties of this assault on the watersheds of the Bighorn is the bull trout. Lorne Fitch looks to native fish as sentinels calling out the impact of land use changes. Lorne is a professional biologist and author with a lifelong connection to Bighorn Country. He has experienced the decline of bull trout populations from the thousands to almost none in his own lifetime. Is there any hope for recovery? Lorne believes that requires a societal shift towards a conservation ethic and an acceptance that landscapes have limits and constraints, that they cannot be all things to all people all the time. Journalist and host of The Bull Trout Show Cheryl Croucher asked Lorne Fitch to pinpoint when things went wrong in the Bighorn and if it is too late for the bull trout.
The forest reserve along Alberta’s eastern slopes was established over a century ago, in part to protect the watersheds that provide water for drinking and agricultural activity further downstream. Yes, it is a human-centric perspective, but one that seemed to work until recent years. In the 21st century, gone is the true wilderness of Bighorn Country, marred by countless intrusions allowing human access for industry and recreation that have led to landscape degradation. Among the casualties of this assault on the watersheds of the Bighorn is the bull trout. Lorne Fitch looks to native fish as sentinels calling out the impact of land use changes. Lorne is a professional biologist and author with a lifelong connection to Bighorn Country. He has experienced the decline of bull trout populations from the thousands to almost none in his own lifetime. Is there any hope for recovery? Lorne believes that requires a societal shift towards a conservation ethic and an acceptance that landscapes have limits and constraints, that they cannot be all things to all people all the time. Journalist and host of The Bull Trout Show Cheryl Croucher asked Lorne Fitch to pinpoint when things went wrong in the Bighorn and if it is too late for the bull trout.