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ABSTRACTS OF PRESENTA77ONS <br />parties to promote the conservation of Goose Lake, and the Goose Lake Fishes Working Group is developing a <br />Conservation Strategy Plan. <br />California Department of Fish and Game continued chemical treatment of streams in the upper reaches of the <br />Little Kern River for restoration of pure populations of threatened Little Kern golden trout Oncorhynchus aguabonita <br />wl2itei. <br />The USFS and BLM have initiated consultations with the Service regarding the effects of livestock grazing <br />management on threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi. Individual allotments are being <br />reviewed in California, Oregon, and Nevada. <br />Research on populations of the threatened Warner sucker Catostomus warnerensis, which occupy stream <br />habitats, has been initiated. The project is partially funded through section 6 of the Act. The main lakes in Warner <br />Valley have refilled thanks to the wet winter of 1992-93. However, preliminary surveys indicate that predatory <br />exotic fishes were not completely extirpated from these lakes by the drought. Two-year-old Warner suckers, which <br />were spawned at a temporary holding facility at Summer Lake, Oregon have now spawned. All adult and juvenile <br />Warner suckers will be collected and returned to Warner Valley. Adult Warner suckers remain at Dexter National <br />Fish Hatchery. <br />Surveys conducted by the Service, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Oregon State University have <br />documented the existence of several populations of Summer Basin tui chub Gila bicolor ssp., a category 1 candidate <br />for Federal listing, within the Sumner Basin which have not been previously documented. These new populations <br />have no hydraulic connection to any of the introgressed populations, so they may represent pure-strain populations. <br />The Summer Basin tui chub is included in a lawsuit settlement which requires the Service to either add all Candidate <br />Category 1 species to the Federal list of threatened and endangered species, or reclassify them to Candidate <br />Category 3c status by documenting improved status. Pure Summer Basin tui chub were previously thought to only <br />exist in a single, privately owned drainage. This year's surveys, combined with morphometric and genetic analyses <br />to be done on the newly discovered populations, may change that perspective. <br />The Service announced that the number of endangered cui-ui Chasmistes cujus has increased dramatically from <br />about 150,000 in the early 1980's to 1.1 million in 1983. This species occurs only in Pyramid Lake, Nevada, but <br />spawns in the lower reaches of the Truckee River. The majority of the current population were produced during <br />favorable water years in the early 1980's. The species has benefitted from the Service's management efforts to <br />improve fish passage into the Truckee River for spawning and from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe's cui-iii hatchery <br />program. The Service is currently reevaluating its existing fish passage facilities because they were designed for <br />150,000 fish and need to be upgraded to handle the increasing number of spawning cui-iii. <br />The Nevada State Office submitted final recovery plans for Big Spring spinedace Lepidomeda mollispinis <br />pratensis and White River spinedace Lepidomeda albivallis to the Regional Office for approval in late summer 1993. <br />Comments received during the public comment period for the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Recovery Plan are being <br />incorporated into a final document, which should be approved by mid-1994. The Moapa dace Moapa coriacea <br />Recovery Plan is being revised, and should be available for public comment by early 1994. Similarly, a draft <br />recovery plan for the threatened Railroad Valley springfish Crenichthys nevadae should be available for public <br />comment by mid-1994. In September 1993, the Service published a proposed rule to reclassify the Pahrump poolfish <br />Empetrichthys latos from endangered status to threatened status. Public comments will be received through <br />November 5, 1993. <br />BLM is scheduled to remove all wild horses and burros from the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge <br />(NWR) in December 1993. Refuge personnel have received approval to chemically eradicate 300 acres of tamarisk <br />from the Carson Slough within the Ash Meadows NWR. This will be a major step in restoration of the slough. <br />The Service's Seattle National Fisheries Research Center has been conducting life history and habitat <br />requirement research on the endangered White River spinedace. In 1991, the one remaining population of this <br />species was estimated at less than 100 individuals. In June 1993, only 14 adults were observed during intensive <br />snorkel surveys. Largemouth bass predation Micropterus salmoides restricts the remaining fish into relatively <br />unsuitable habitat. The Service and the Nevada Department of Wildlife, who owns the spring containing the remnant <br />population, have been working diligently to prevent the extinction of this species by installing bass barriers, <br />removing bass, and improving habitat conditions. Although adult spinedace incidentally captured in 1993 exhibited <br />spawning conditions, no recruitment has been documented. Due to the few numbers of fish remaining and the recent <br />efforts to improve habitat conditions, the decision was made to leave the fish in their native ecosystem versus <br />placing them in captivity. However, that decision will be revisited in the spring of 1994. <br />During 1993, private lands in Nevada which support the only populations of endangered White River springfish <br />Crenichthys baileyi baileyi and Pahranagat roundtail chub Gila robusta jorclani were offered for sale. Offers to pay <br />appraised value made by TNC have not yet been accepted by the sellers, who are hoping for more money.