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Background <br />On July 1, 1997 the Governors of Nebraska, Wyoming and <br />Colorado and the Secretary of Interior signed the "Cooperative <br />Agreement for P/atte River Research and Other EKorts Relating <br />to Endangered Species Habitat along the Centra! Platte River, <br />Nebraska. " Thereafter, a Governance Committee made up of <br />representatives from the three states, the federal government, <br />environmental organizations and water users formulated the detaiis <br />of a proposed Plattp River Recovery Implementation Program <br />(Program). In 2006, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released a <br />Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and the U.S. <br />Fish and Wildlife Service issued a Final Biological Opinion. Secretary of <br />Interior Dirk Kempthorne then signed the Record of Decision supporting <br />implementation of the Program. Then, in late 2006 each of the <br />three Governors and Secretary Kempthorne signed a Program <br />Cooperative Agreement wherein they agreed to participate and <br />implement the Program. The Program, which is contingent upon <br />authorization and funding by Congress and by the states, officially <br />commenced on January 1, 2007. <br />February 2007 <br /> <br />Area <br />Platte River Program <br />The Program will be a basin-wide effort undertaken by the Department of the <br />Interior (DOI) and the States of Colorado. Nebraska and Wyoming to provide <br />benefits for the endangered interior least tern, whooping crane, and pallid <br />sturgeon and the threatened piping plover (the target species). Through the <br />Program, the states and the federal government will provide land, water, and <br />scientific monitoring and research to evaluate Program benefits for the target <br />species. The Program will be incremental with the First Increment designated <br />for 13 years. Implementation of this Program will be through a Governance <br />Committee consisting of representatives of the three states, DOI, water users, and <br />environmental groups. <br />The purpose of the Program is to implement certain aspects of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recovery plans for <br />the target species by securing defined benefits for the target species and their associated habitats. It also is to provide <br />Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance for existing and certain new water related activities in the Platte River <br />basin upstream of the Loup River confluence for effects to the target species, help prevent the need to list more basin <br />associated species pursuant to the ESA, mitigate the adverse impacts of certain new water related activities through <br />approved depletions plans, and establish and maintain an organizational structure that will ensure appropriate state and <br />federal government and stakeholder involvement in the Program. <br />Program Area <br />While the Program is designed to provide ESA compliance for <br />existing and certain new water related activities throughout the <br />Platte River basin upstream of the Loup River confluence, the land <br />acquisition and management for the target bird species will occur in <br />the central Platte River region (Lexington to Chapman, Nebraska), <br />and Program water activities will be designed to provide benefits for <br />the target bird species in the central Platte River region and for the <br />pallid sturgeon in the lower Platte River region (below the confluence A <br />Elkhorn River). These areas are generally known as the "associated h;