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North Platte, Encampment, and Laramie Rivers as well as in the streams and alpine lakes of Rocky Mountain National Park. Important sport species include rainbow, brook, and cutthroat trout. Important fisheries also include the upper reaches of the South Platte River, other alpine lakes on mountainous national forest lands, and several mixed warm-water and cold-water reservoir fisheries on the South and North Platte Rivers, especially Lake McConaughy in Nebraska. Warm-water fisheries are found on the North Platte River, man-made ~ . sandpit lakes along the North platte River, and at several reservoirs in the ~ plains area. These reservoir fisheries are dominated by northern pike, walleye, channel catfish, various centrarchids, white bass, and several species of rough fish, while those of the streams are diverse but predominantly rough fish and channel catfish. High quality waterfowl and riparian habitat occurs along the North Platte, South platte, main-stem Platte, and Loup River systems. Riparian and other aquatic species also depend upon these wetland areas to maintain annual biological cycles. In Colorado and Wyoming, these wetlands support breeding Canadian geese populations in addition to ducks and produce over 5,000 geese annually. The Big Bend area of the Platte River in Nebraska with its abundant sandbars and wet meadows is important internationally for migratory bird ~ species utilizing the Central Flyway, such as the greater and lesser sandhill crane, the endangered whooping crane, and a wide variety of other waterfowl including white-fronted geese. STUDY ORGANIZATION AND RESPONSIBILITY The Department of the Interior has overall responsibility for the Upper platte River Study. Figure 1 shows how the study participants are organized and illustrates lines of responsibility and communication. A continual and strong desire for effective State-Federal -14-