Putting Coastal Cutthroat Trout on the Map: Increasing Knowledge Through Documented Occurrence Data

Coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii) have a large geographic distribution (approximately 1,500 coastal miles), variable life history and uncertain status. In 2008, the Coastal Cutthroat Trout Interagency Committee (a multi-agency working group) identified the need to better understand the basic biology and geographic distribution of this important subspecies so we could better manage and conserve their populations. It was acknowledged that available data for coastal cutthroat trout are found in agency reports or are otherwise unavailable. The data are often collected in monitoring programs for other salmonid species and are thus incidental. These issues create difficulties for decision makers who are charged with setting management priorities and developing conservation actions for coastal cutthroat trout. To address this challenge the Coastal Cutthroat Trout Database Project was initiated. The goal of the effort is to gather coastal cutthroat trout data from throughout their geographic distribution and place it in a unified spatially explicit framework. A library of documents and a map viewer that displays the data has been developed. I will give examples of the data types and report on the utility and application of the documented occurrence data that was collected as part of this effort.