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1 <br />life stage, interactions with non-native fishes, homing (i.e., <br />olfaction and chemoreception studies), habitat use, fish passage, <br />taxonomy, anatomy, and physiology. <br />3. Information and Education. Specimens of endangered fish that are <br />maintained in aquaria can be used in public relations programs and to <br />educate the public about the ecological requirements of the fish, <br />reasons related to their status as "endangered", efforts being taken <br />to recover these native fishes and the relationship of recovery <br />efforts to water development in the Upper Colorado River Basin. <br />Specimens of the endangered fishes would add substantially to <br />environmental education programs. For example, the Service funded the <br />development of an environmental education curriculum guide "Rivers at <br />Risk" for teachers in grades kindergarten through 12 during 1993. The <br />35-page curriculum is composed of 9 activities to educate students <br />about the Colorado River ecosystem that emphasizes the relation <br />between water development and the endangered fishes. Copies of this <br />curriculum were printed through the Federal Aid in Sport Fish <br />Restoration Program and distributed to Project Wild coordinators in <br />Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Such educational experiences <br />would be greatly enhanced if the students could actually see the fish <br />when water development in the Colorado River basin is being explained <br />in relation to the uniqueness of the endemic fishes in this basin. <br />As natural ecosystems are altered to serve human needs, endemic or <br />native species are often adversely affected. Indeed, many native <br />fishes in southwestern United States have been drastically affected <br />and some are now extinct from human-induced habitat alterations. The <br />American public loses part of its natural heritage when natural <br />systems are altered. Often the decline in animal numbers and species <br />results from the lack of human sensitivity and understanding of the <br />impacts from various developments on fish and wildlife and their <br />habitats. Information and education programs can increase the <br />sensitivity and understanding of the public and water users to the <br />relationship of the ecological requirements of endangered species to <br />water development. <br />Water is one of the most precious resources, particularly in the arid <br />and semi-arid west. Water development allowed this region of the <br />United States to be inhabited. Today, further development of water <br />projects already in progress or planned could cause the extinction of <br />the endangered Colorado River fishes. The American public will place <br />even more demand for the multiple-use of natural resources including <br />rivers in the future. The Recovery Implementation Program for <br />restoring the four endangered large river fishes is one of the largest <br />and most comprehensive project of its kind in the United States. The <br />challenge is to ensure that water can be managed and allocated to meet <br />existing and new municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses, while <br />at the same time, provide streamflows, habitat, and ecological <br />conditions necessary to restore the endangered Colorado River fishes <br />(Wydoski and Hamill 1991). <br />4. Stocking. The history of fish culture and stocking in the United <br />States has been concisely and appropriately stated by Radonski and <br />18