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<br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />Four endemic fiehes are considered endangered in the Upper Colorado River <br />Basin: razorback sucker (Xvrauchen texanus), bonytail (Q11A eleaans), <br />humpback chub (Gila ~l, and Colorado squa~fish (Ptvchocheilua Lucius). <br />The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), through the secretary of the <br />In~erior, is responsible for protection and recovery of endangered species <br />under ths Endangered Species Act. To protect the endangsred fishes while <br />allowing future water development to meet the demands of society in the Upper <br />Colorado River Basin, the Service coordinated the dsvelopment of a Recovery <br />Implementation Program (Recovery Program) for the endangered Colorado River <br />fishes (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 19811. This Program is a joint effort <br />of the u.s. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Western <br />Area Power Administration, States of COlorado, Utah, and Wyoming, Upper <br />Colorado River Basin water users, and environmental organizations. <br /> <br />Five Program elements were identified to recover the endangered fishes: (1) <br />provision of instream flows, (2) habitat development and maintenance, (3) <br />native fish stocking, (41 management of nonnative species and sport fishing, <br />and (5) research, monitoring, and data management. A Recovery Action Plan is <br />updated annually to ensure that the priority actions are completed (U.S. Fiah <br />and Wildlife Service 1995). This Recovery Action Plan provides the basis for <br />evaluating sufficient progress toward recovery of ths endangered fishes under <br />Section 1 of the Endangered Species Act while providing for water development <br />to meet the needs of society. <br /> <br />Program participants identified a need for an independent peer review process <br />to be implemented by the Program Director for major technical components of <br />the Program to eneure that proposed new projects are sound (U.S. Fish and <br />Wildlife Service 1994). The peer review process was also intended to help <br />evaluate and integrate the various components identified in the Recovery <br />Action Plan. <br /> <br />A scope-of-work was submitted to the Recovery Program for funding in Fiscal <br />Year 1995 related to evaluation of the methodology being used in the food web <br />study of the Upper Colorado River. This scope-of-work was discussed at length <br />by the Biology Committee and expanded to a peer review of streamflow, <br />geomorphology, and food web projects that were approved under the Flaming <br />Gorge and Aspinall Umbrella Studies. The task was assigned to the Propagation <br />and Nonnative Fish Progr~ COordinator with instructions to select.two peer <br />reviewers with expertise in each of the disciplines of geomorphology, large <br />river ecology, and food web relationships. Additional instructions were to <br />provide the peer reviewers with the scopes-of-work for FY 1994 and annual <br />reports for FY 1993 under the Flaming Gorge and Aspinall Umbrella Studies as <br />Recovery Program documentation for the review. <br /> <br />The persons selected as peer reviewers in these three disciplines were: <br /> <br />3 <br />