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<br />Director's message
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<br />By John Hamill . Fish and Wildlife Service biologists
<br />Recovery Program Director collected 42 ,wild young-of-the-year'
<br />U,S, Fish and Wildlife Service razorback suckers this summer from
<br />The Recovery Program's' emphasis 'the "bid Charlie Wash" wetland on the
<br />on results-oriented, on:the-ground 'Green River, near Ouray, Utah: This
<br />activities to recover endangered fish ,findiIig, suggests that some young
<br />has begun to pay oil, The prop wa~ razorbacks may be able to' survive to
<br />, able to move beyond adulthood in the Green River despite
<br />a research emphasis,' thepresenc~ of non-native fish,'
<br />three 'years ago, ,. The ,Utah, bivision of. Wildlife '
<br />'once e!1ough 'infor- "Resources plan~ to stockseve~l thou~ '
<br />mation , had been' sOO:;d bonytail' in ' the 'lowerColonido
<br />gathered to deter- 'River, near Moab Utah this fall. This
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<br />mjne the best strate- 'marks the beginning of efforts to re-
<br />'gies for recovering establish this species in tne upper basil}. '
<br />end a n g, ere d '. RaZorback suckers will 'also be '
<br />John Hamill Coloiado Riverfish" stocked thi~ falj in the Colorado,
<br />Here are just a few, Gunnison and Green rivers as part of
<br />recent findings and accomplishments: ongoing efforts to boost or re-establish
<br />. On Aug. 14, the: RecoveryP~ograrn ,populations of these fish., , ,
<br />celebrated completion of afish.ladder ". Service biologists found more,than",
<br />at the Redlands Diversion Dam. This iSI 70 razorback sucker lMvae last spring
<br />the first iri a series of actions planne4 to in' the 'lower Green River 'near
<br />restore endangered fish in the Gunrii~6n Canyonlands ,National Monument.
<br />River. So far, more than 7,000 natIve, This 'co~firrnsthat spa";"ning is ,occur-
<br />fish, inCludirig one Colorado squaw-, ring in this stretch or river and suggests'
<br />fish, have successfully used the ladder. the pres~nce of another population' or
<br />. The Orchard Mes~ Check case was 'ra:iorbacks in the lower Green.' ,
<br />settled after five years of litigation and '. Th~ Service has now issued favor-
<br />?egotiation. This Grand Valley project able biological opinions on 176 pro- '
<br />Involves a water con~ol structure at the 'jects in the, upper Colorado', River
<br />head of the l5-mlle reach ofth, e', 'Basin.N"one of thes~pro;ects has been,
<br />I' R' , ' h b' t fI '
<br />Co orado, lver, Important a. Ita or' stopped or litigated based on 'endan-
<br />endange~d fish, Thanks to this settle~ geredspecies concerns, "
<br />men!, about 30,OO? -acre fee.! of Green, These' accomplishments ~ which,
<br />Mo~tainRese:VOlrw~terwlllbem~de, are good news for endangered fish ~
<br />avatlable to thiS IS-mIle reach dunng ., were made possible by the,cooperative
<br />late summer l;Uld early fall. , " naMe of the Recovery prograin. I fully
<br />. A contract among the, Bureau ,of ,',', ' "I . th ..
<br />, .' ,U S F" h, ' d Wildlifc ' expect Slml ar 'progress In , e comIng ,
<br />Reclamahon" ',' IS an ',' e, months as other projects are completed,
<br />Service 'and Colorado Water, " '
<br />Conservation Bolu-r\ has been signed, FundilJg,legislaticin update '
<br />providing31,6S0 acre-feet of water from 'Bureau ofR:eClamation arid Fish and
<br />Ruedi Reservoir, to benefit endangered Wildlife Service funding for the
<br />fish iri the IS-mile reach of the Colorado" Recovery Program iri fiscal year 1997'
<br />. ColOl-ado State Parks, the Colorado , appears to, be secure; based on action'
<br />Water Conservation Board and ,Fish by ihe House and Senate Appropnation
<br />and Wildlife Service signed' a contract 'Subcommittee.' The Recovery
<br />to makeavaiiable 2,000 acre feet of Progcim;s FYl997 work plan has been
<br />water from Steamboat Lake to enhance 'prepared and will be preserited to the
<br />late-summer flows in theYampa River. ,Implementation Committee for
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<br />. Photo.courtesy of Verlyn Westwood
<br />, A young Mary Ruiledge poses with a
<br />stringer of, bonytails and 'a' ~Iorado
<br />squaWfishcaughUitound ,1920 in the
<br />'Colorado River near Moab, Utah.
<br />Several thousand of the fish, will be
<br />stocked in this area in the fall
<br />Bonytails am' nearly extinct in the wild.
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<br />approval Oct: 2. ' ,
<br />'Efforts 'to develop legislation' to
<br />'authorize and'spell-out a' cost:sharing
<br />'arrangement for the, upper Colorado
<br />, and San Juan River recovery programs
<br />have been put on hold. We first need to '
<br />resolve conCerns raised by water 'user
<br />groiJpsrelated to U.S. Fish and
<br />,Wildlife ServIce' cOlisultations under'
<br />s~ction ,7 of the 'Endangered Species
<br />Act. '.once, those; concerns' have, been '
<br />dealt with, we 'will resume, negotiating
<br />"the iegislation, probably lat~r!his fall. '
<br />
<br />EleCtronic mailirigiist initiated,'
<br />We have begun testing an electronic
<br />"mailing lis't for program participants.
<br />The list should be fully operational in
<br />October, ,at whIch time anyone with '
<br />electronic mail may subscribe. , '
<br />, Foidetails, cOli tact Angela Kantola
<br />at'aiigela_kantola@mail.fws,gov or,
<br />(303) 236-298S, extension 221.
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