While the IUCN considers the Apache trout to be critically endangered, it is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Around 100 years ago, they could be found in of streams in the White Mountains. By the late 1960s, their range had been reduced to around of these streams. Once the Endangered Species Act of 1969 was passed, they became one of the first species listed under it. When this act was replaced by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, they became one of the first fish species protected under the newer Act. Population numbers for this species are still rising.