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50 <br />WHAT THE CIBOLA NATIONAL FOREST HAS DONE FOR THE ZUNI MOUNTAIN <br />.SUCKER, PANTOSTEUS DISCOBOLUS YARROWI. <br />F.A. Winter, Wildlife Biologist, Cibola National Forest, <br />Albuquerque, New Mexico. <br />Fiscal year 1978 included incremental funding for Zuni <br />Mountain Sucker habitat improvement. Two specific tasks had <br />been designated--removal of debris blocking stream channels and <br />digging potholes for water collecting sites. A survey of the <br />area described indicated about a half day's work for debris <br />removal, and to dig potholes would be futile. The reason for not <br />digging potholes was that the high intensity--short duration summer <br />thunderstorms would nullify the effort. <br />Another problem was the broken ownership pattern in the area <br />where suckers were found. The ratio of National Forest lands <br />compared to private ownership was extremely small--less than 10%. <br />Federal funds can only be spent on Federal lands. <br />The Forest Service Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) needed a <br />project for a portion of the summer. The idea of fencing out <br />an area to protect sucker habitat from cattle had been previously <br />discussed with Mt. Taylor Ranger District personnel. An area, <br />including a spring, was needed for this project. <br />Radosevich Creek which runs through an isolated section of <br />National Forest land and included Radosevich Spring was the site <br />selected. Forest Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs YCC, from <br />Ft. Wingate, New Mexico, working together, began the project. <br />The YCC crews cut juniper trees for corner posts, drove steel <br />posts and strung barbed wire. What was estimated to be about a <br />week's work ended up over three weeks' worth. An area about <br />one-quarter mile long by about 200 feet wide was fenced. Cattle <br />are now excluded from this area of habitat which is felt critical <br />to survival of the sucker on National Forest lands. The cattle <br />permittee was very cooperative and encouraged our efforts. <br />In the future, other sites on other streams will be selected <br />for fencing to exclude cattle to protect the habitat of this <br />species.