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<br />:tf <br /> <br />"'.' <br /> <br />'/I <br /> <br />,.., <br /> <br />UPPER PLATTE RIVER STUDY <br />. WORK PLAN <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />The Department of the Interior (USDI) has specific responsibilities for <br /> <br />implementing international migratory bird treaties and the Endangered Species <br /> <br />Act. Of special concern, in this respect, are the habitats of sandhill cranes, <br /> <br /> <br />whooping cranes, and other migratory bird species found along the Platte River <br />in central Nebraska. <br /> <br />Responding to this concern and following on earlier proposals for a <br /> <br /> <br />wildlife refuge in this area, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in 1974, <br /> <br /> <br />proposed a National wildlife Refuge along the Platte River in south-central <br /> <br /> <br />Nebraska. Composed of a single parcel of land--15,OOO acres--immediately west <br /> <br />of Grand Island, this proposal was unacceptable to landowners in the area and <br /> <br />to the State, perhaps because of its proposed use of the eminent domain <br /> <br />." process. Moreover, discussions on this proposal revealed a lack of information <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />on the basic hydrology of this portion of the river, how it is affected by <br /> <br />upstream activities and adjacent ground-water 'withdrawals, and especially on <br /> <br />the interrelationships between flow and habitat in this area of the basin. For <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />example, during this period the Missouri River Basin Commission (MRBC) was <br /> <br />nearing completion of a comprehensive studyll of the Platte River in Nebraska <br /> <br />and results of the study noted that: <br /> <br />11 Report on the Platte River Basin Nebraska, Level B Study - June 1976, <br />Missouri River Basin Commission <br /> <br />-1- <br />