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Don, thank you for sharing this letter from Mr Hunt. The time-line is of particular note as from 2005 to 2018 the square root of zip has been done by either provincial or federal authorities. Most distressing indeed. I have worked for three different nations' defence departments and I know how stupid big government can be. This is more proof, not that we needed it. As a side discussion to this matter is this issue that the Federal gov't won't involve itself with species deemed to be exotic, such as the Brook and Brown Trout resident in the Bow River and her tributaries. The Feds' attitude is ridiculous. The Bow River flows damn near halfway across this country, changing name and characteristics in the process. Yes, the Brown and Brook species were introduced to AB years ago with the best of intentions to enhance sport fishery. It was a mistake from the purist's point of view. We have goofy hybridization all over the place. (In a study done on Bill Griffiths Creek, east of Canmore, AB a few years ago, the team harvested a Brook/Bull hybrid. It was the only one they thought they found in their electrofishing exercise, and they killed it to examine it). I doubt very much that on the basis of a single perceived example of hybridization between the exotic Brook and the native Bull that the Feds will become involved. Short of the extreme solution proffered above by Albertatrout using rotenone to kill everything and starting back from square one with a genetically pure stock and preventing any type of fishing for a few years until populations gain traction, there doesn't seem to be a solution. The Bull trout is the Native and symbolic fish of the Province of Alberta. It is distinct and special. It deserves protection. By everyone and before it's too late. The government can and does do "dumb stuff", it happens for a huge variety of complex and cascading reasons. Usually one well-meant decision ends up creating another set of previously unforeseen problems to solve. One of the other challenges is that there are usually several options deemed possible by the interested party and a kind of option paralysis sets in... (I see this with my beloved when a waiter sets a menu in front of her at a restaurant! LOL, it is a very common human trait). The Bull Trout is already protected in AB, but it is capable of hybridization with at least one of the two known exotics. I wonder if the Feds might be provoked into getting off their duffs and getting involved? What will it take? How can we ensure they even know about the problem? I have zero faith in either the Prov or Fed fisheries authorities. They are two engaged and well-meaning parties engaged in tug of war in a zero-sum game. Neither side willing to budge from their separate and differing agendas. This is a legacy headed for disaster.