9586

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9586
• Author: Desert Fishes Council.
• Title: Proceedings of the Desert Fishes Council Volume XXVI 1994 Annual Symposium.
• USFW Year: 1994.
• USFW - Doc Type: Furnace Creek, CA.
• Copyright Material: NO

DFC PROCEEDINGS - ABSTRACTS AND CONTRIBUTED PAPERS IN ORDER PRESENTED
debris, and they have installed new visitor facilities
and revegetated closed roads. A baseline contaminants
study has been proposed for the Ash Meadows NWR,
but it has not yet been funded. Of specific concern is
determining the origin of concentrations of PCP's in
one spring on the refuge.
The Nevada Ecological Services State Office is
preparing an Environmental Impact Statement to
assess the potential impacts of the Truckee River
Operating Agreement (TROA), required under Public
Law 101-618 (Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water
Rights Settlement Act). TROA will provide drought
storage for the cities of Reno and Sparks, Nevada, in
Federal reservoirs without infringing on entitled water
rights. TROA must also enhance spawning flows in the
Truckee River for endangered cui-ui (Chasmistes
cujus) and threatened LCT.
Nevada Ecological Services State Office is
continuing to work with the Bureau of Land
Management, The Nature Conservancy, Nevada
Division of Wildlife, and private landowners near
Beatty, Nevada, to implement recovery actions and
develop conservation agreements for the Amargosa
toad (Bufo nelsoni) and Oasis Valley speckled dace
(Rhinichthys osculus ssp.), candidates for listing as
threatened or endangered.
SACRAMENTO FIELD OFFICE - Pre-Listing -
The Sacramento office initiated or cooperated in
pre-listing recovery efforts for Cowhead Lake tui chub,
Goose Lake fishes, McCloud River redband trout,
Eagle Lake rainbow trout, Volcano Creek golden trout,
and Kern River rainbow trout. The Forest Service is
initiating Conservation Agreements for some of these
species impacted by grazing allotments, etc.
Through consultation with the California
Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Forest Service,
and private landowners, the stocking of hatchery
rainbow trout has been stopped in the upper McCloud
River drainage and efforts to improve habitat
conditions have been initiated or expedited.
Listing - The McCloud River redband trout was
recommended for re-classification from C2 to Cl. Two
petitions for listing the Eagle Lake rainbow trout were
received and a draft positive 90 day finding was
submitted to the regional office. Information on bull
trout in California was sent to the Olympia office for
use in the warranted but precluded one year finding
released on this species.
Consultation - Four formal consultations for 15
Forest Service grazing allotments were completed that
affected Lahontan cutthroat trout, Paiute cutthroat
trout, Little Kern golden trout, and Owens tui chub.
Grazing standards were developed with the help of the
U.S. Forest Service, Oregon State and Nevada State
offices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Informal
consultations (that will become formal consultations)
on several other allotments that affect Lost River,
shortnose, and Modoc suckers resulted in reduced
impacts from grazing.
One formal consultation was completed for
Forest Service timber harvests in Modoc sucker
watersheds. Consultations on three private timber
harvests that may affect Lahontan cutthroat trout were
also completed.
CARLSBAD FIELD OFFICE - The unarmored
threespine stickleback (UTS) recovery team has been
active this past year. The Service provided input on
two projects. The recovery team reviewed a proposal
by the Natural Heritage Foundation (NIA to create an
artificial refugium with the use of secondary treated
effluent. The proposal, however, lacked important
details such as water quality, vegetational treatment of
effluent, discharge from the ponds, water flows, etc.
This proposed project was located on Baldwin Lake,
near Big Bear Lake, in the San Bernardino Mountains.
The recovery team also received water quality
and invertebrate information collected last year for
several potential refugia on the San Bernardino
National Forest (SBNF) for the Shay Creek population
of UTS. One location, Juniper Springs, best
represented the Shay Meadow location where this
population currently exists. The SBNF is in the process
of preparing a Biological Assessment and Biological
Evaluation for the use of Juniper Springs as a ref igium
for the Shay Creek population. The recovery team
assessed the physical setting of Juniper Springs and
suggested that the pond be fenced with range fencing
encompassing a large portion of the meadow
surrounding the pond to improve water quality. Cattle
currently utilize the pond for water and the meadow for
grazing. The pond exhibits evidence of high levels of
nutrients. The meadow downstream of the pond also
has great potential for enhancement as habitat with
some minor excavations to create meandering channels
through the meadow.
A desert pupfish study by the Contaminants
Branch began in June 1994 with collections of sailfin
mollies to serve as surrogates for the endangered
desert pupfish. In June 1994, seven drains that had a
history of use by both desert pupfish and sailfin
mollies were sampled. A sufficient number of mollies
were collected for chemical analysis in three of the
drains. Desert pupfish were not observed in any of the
drains sampled in June. Fish surveys and collections
continued during July-September 1994. This sampling
schedule included the months of August- September
when the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) surveyed
agricultural drains for desert pupfish. The III) Survey
Team was able to provide samples from a total of 10
drains. The Service is submitting a total of 32 samples
of sailfrn mollies from 13 drains for chemical analysis.
Of greatest interest are selenium, boron and pesticide
levels in the tissues of these fish. This study is part of
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