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STATE OF COLORADO <br /> <br /> <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br /> <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman Stree t, Room 721 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866 - 3441 <br />Fax: (303) 866 - 4474 <br />www.cwcb.state.co.us <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Bill Ritter, Jr. <br />NEWS RELEASE <br />Governor <br /> <br /> <br />Harris D. Sherman <br /> <br />DNR Executive Director <br /> <br />Wednesday, April 30, 2008 <br />Jennifer L. Gimbel <br />For Immediate Release <br />CWCB Director <br /> <br /> <br />Dan McAuliffe <br />Contacts <br />CWCB Deputy Director <br />Ted Kowalski, Colorado Water Conservation Board, 303.866.3978 <br />Evan Dreyer, Governor’s Office, 720.350.8370. <br /> <br /> <br />GOV. RITTER PRAISES PLATTE RIVER LEGISLATION <br /> <br />Gov. Bill Ritter today praised yesterday’s passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of <br />legislation authorizing the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program. The program will <br />allow Colorado to work with Wyoming, Nebraska, the federal government, water providers and <br />other organizations to recover threatened and endangered species within the Platte River Basin. <br /> <br />The Senate passed the legi slation, which is part of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of <br />2008, on April 10. <br /> <br />“This is a major step toward assuring that the Platte River Recovery Program succeeds,” Gov. <br />Ritter said. “Water providers, environmentalists and Colorado citizens shou ld be proud that Sen. <br />Salazar, Sen. Allard and Rep. Udall took leadership roles to support the passage of this <br />legislation.” <br /> <br />“This step allows us to move immediately to take direct actions to recover the whooping crane, <br />least tern, piping plover and palli d sturgeon,” said Harris Sherman, executive director of the <br />Colorado Department of Natural Resources. “The whooping crane is North America’s largest <br />bird species, and through our actions we have been able to bring this species from the brink of <br />extinction to the highest recorded numbers in decades.” <br /> <br />In 1979, there were just 56 whooping cranes in the wild flock that uses the Platte River. In 2007, <br />257 whooping cranes were counted in the flock. <br /> <br />“This legislation opens the door to land restoration efforts th at are critical to the program’s <br />success,” said Ted Kowalski, program manager for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. <br /> <br />Water Supply Protection • Watershed Protection & Flood Mitigation • Stream & Lake Protection • Wat er Supply Planning & Finance <br />Water Conservation & Drought Planning • Intrastate Water Management & Development <br />