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. . ~ b ~ Major project features would include: (1) Savery Reservoir to be con- structed on Savery Creek in Wyoming about 18 miles above its confluence with the Little Snake River; (2) a diversion structure about 7 miles below that reservoir to turn water into the Dolan Mesa Canal; (3) Pot Hook Reservoir on Slater Creek in Colorado about one mile above its con- fluence with the Little Snake River; (4) Pot Hook Canal originating at Pot Hook Reservoir; and (5) associated lateral canals and drainage facilities. The Fish and Wildlife Service prepared a preliminary report dated May 1953 on this project based on the limited biological information then available. That report was supplemented three times, the last by memorandum dated May 24, 1963. The supplemental information was not based on significant new or additional biological data and did not alter in any major respect the conclusions drawn in the ~my 1953 report; i.e., that the project would have only a limited impact on fish and wildlife resources. Since this earlier report was based on the scant~ data then available and the most cursory of field investigations, and since it predated the National Environmental Policy Act by nearly 20 years, it does not represent the current views of the Fish and Wildlife Service. There- fore, the Y~y 1953 report, including its supplements and revisions, no longer has any force and effect and, by means of ~~is memorandum, is officially and formally withdrawn. The Fish and Wildlife Service is now opposed to. the construction and and operation of the Savery-Pot Hook Project because: (1) it may jeopardize the continued existence of the Colorado River squawfish and humpback chub--both endangered species of fish--by modification of flow regimen and/or water quality in the Little Snake and Yampa Rivers below the project area; (2) it will eliminate 25 percent of Colorado's sage grouse by destroying breeding, nesting, early brood- ,rearing, and wintering habitat; (3) it will destroy winter range resulting in the loss of 25 percent of Colorado's antelope; (4) it will greatly increase the potential for winter depredation by elk and deer on privately owned lands in both states inevitably leading to pressure on the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to reduce their numbers by several hundred head; and (5) there appear to be no feasible means or measures by which these losses can either be prevented or even substantially offset. 2