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o 01'0 i's .FORUM volume Dxrnn . number.~ . spring 200 I FOR APPLIED RESEARCH AND PUBLIC POLICY Endangered Economies An alternative approach to compliance with the Endangered Species Act is restoring endangered fish in the Colorado and San Juan Rivers. BY .JAMES V. HANSEN n October 2000, Con- gress passed and sent to the president a bill to authorize federal cost- sharing for implementa- tion of recovery programs target- ing endangered fish. 1 The bill addressed the upper Colorado River and San Juan River basins in portions of Utah, Colorado, New Me..'rico, and Wyoming. I in- troduced this bill in the House of Representatives, with bipartisan co-sponsorship from members of the House from all four states. The House Resources Committee ap- proved the bill, also with strong bipartisan support. There was strong bipartisan support in the Senate as well. The legislation had the strong support of the four states involved as well as power users, water us- ers, environmentalists, and the Clinton administration.2 While HR 2348 did not amend the En- dangered Species Act in any way, such widespread suPPOrt for a bill addressing the needs of endangered species is unprecedented. The broad support for the bill resulted from the manner in which these recovery programs work on a co- operative basis to achieve the goals of the Endangered Species Act and the goals of numerous and diverse interests. Particulars of the Act The Endangered Species Act was passed almost unanimously by Congress in 1973. The purposes of the act are to conserve ecosys- tems that threatened and endan- gered species depend upon, to con- serve endangered and threatened species, and to comply with trea- ties and conventions entered into by the United States regarding endangered and threatened spe- cies. The act declares "that all fed- eral departments and agencies shall seek to conserve endangered and threatened species and co uti- lize their authorities in furtherance of the purposes of this Act." Later amendments declared "that federal agencies shall coop- erate with state and local agencies to resolve water resource issues in concert with the conservation of endangered species." The key provisions that imple- ment the act are Section 4, "De- termination of Endangered Species and Threatened Species," which sets form procedures for identify- ing and listing endangered and threatened species; Section 7, "In- teragency Cooperation;" Section 9, "Prohibitive Acts;" and Section 10, "Exceptions. " Section 4 specifies the legal re- quirements and procedures for identifying and listing species, in- cluding responses to citizen peti- tions to list species. Once species are listed, all of the other provi- sions of the act come into play. Section 4 also requires develop- ment and implementation of re- covery plans for listed species and requires a review every five years of the status of the species to de- termine if it should be removed from the list or should be changed in status with respect to being en- dangered or threatened. The primary means of imple- menting the Endangered Species Act has b,een through Section 7, "Interagency Cooperation." This section requires the secretaries of the Interior and Commerce to uti-elize all programs under cheir pur- view in furtherance of the purposes Spring "2001 . 45