7163

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7163
• Author: Haynes, C. M. and J. R. Bennett.
• Title: Relationship between the Preservation of Wilderness Values and Endangered Species
• USFW Year: 1985.
• USFW - Doc Type: A Case-Study from the Upper Colorado River Basin, U.S.A.
• Copyright Material: YES

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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PRESERVATION OF WILDERNESS VALUES AND ENDANGERED SPECIES:

A CASE-STUDY FROM THE UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN, U.S.A.

Charles M. Haynes and James R. Bennett

ABSTRACT: The endangered Colorado squawfish
(Ptychocheilus lucius) is endemic to the Colorado
River system of North America. Its status is a
consequence of largescale habitat alterations
resulting from western U.S. water development
practices and, at present, it is limited largely
to portions of the upper basin in the States of
Colorado and Utah. In Colorado, an important
spawning area has been identified in the lower-
most 20 mi of the Yampa River (Dinosaur National
Monument). This area has retained much of its
"wilderness" character and may serve as an
excellent example of the value of maintaining
unaltered ecosystems for the recovery and
management of endangered species.

INTRODUCTION

Proponents of wilderness preservation have
alluded to the value of unaltered natural areas
for the maintenance of rare and dwindling genetic
resources. Indeed, one of the most essential
needs in the field of conservation ecology is
knowledge of the minimum habitat size necessary
for long-term maintenance of selected species or
groups of species (Lovejoy 1979). Given the
critical nature of tropical ecosystems to the
earth's climate and the impressive diversity of
plant and animal life associated with these
ecosystems, it is not surprising that, in the
face of an accelerated rate of deforestation
worldwide, much effort and publicity is given to
research and management efforts in the American
tropics and elsewhere. Similarly, the situation
with the rare and endemic fishes of xeric
portions of western North America is fairly well
known by'professional ecologists though perhaps
less widely publicized and understood by the
interested public. In the Colorado River basin,
for instance, water development beginning in the
late 19th century and proceeding to the present
has produced one of the most severely altered
regional ecosystems known, and concomitantly,
imperiled several species of its unique native
ichthyofauna (Holden 1979).

Paper presented at the National Wilderness
Research Conference, Fort Collins, CO, July 23-26,
1985.

Charles M. Haynes is an Aquatic Research
Biologist, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Fort
Collins, Colorado; James R. Bennett is an
Aquatic Program Specialist, Colorado Division of
Wildlife, Denver, Colorado.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the
current situation affecting the future of a
particular Colorado River endemic, the endangered
Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius)--(l)
its distribution and status, (2) current
recovery-oriented research, (3) the relationship
of its long-term survival to the ecological
characteristics of a specific de facto wilderness
system , the lower Yampa River (Dinosaur National
Monument, Moffat County, Colorado), and (4)
suggested approaches to future ^esearch/
management necessary to assure its recovery and
perpetuation.

HISTORY, DISTRIBUTION, AND STATUS
OF THE COLORADO SQUAWFISH

The Colorado squawfish (fig. 1), a large preda-
tory cyprinid, is congeneric with three other
squawfish species endemic to west coast (North
America) drainages. Tyus (1984a) has summarized
knowledge relating to known archeological finds
of the genus. Fossil Ptychocheilus similar to
modern P. lucius have been reported from a number
of Pliocene sites in the southwest and apparently
utilized both riverine and lacustrine habitats.
Miller (1961) contended that, based upon a com-
parison of Pliocene and modern fossils, an
adaptation to swift-water habitats had occurred
by mid-Pliocene. Modern species of Ptychocheilus
are relatively large fishes, and the Colorado
squawfish has evolved into the largest native
cyprinid in North America with purported lengths
in excess of 5 ft and weights of 80-100 lbs
(Miller 1961). The largest squawfish documented
in the State of Colorado, however, was approxi-
mately 3 ft in total length and about 18 lbs
(Wick and others 1981). Tyus (1984a) has sug-
geste~ that attaining such a large size in modern

Cross Mountain, a 17,500-acre area bordering
the Yampa River approximately 10 mi east of the
Dinosaur National Monument (DNM) boundary has
been included as a Wilderness Study Area by the
Bureau of Land Management as has an additional
22,600-acre area adjacent to the northern
boundary of DNM (United States Bureau of Land
Management 1980). The 47-mi reach of the Yampa
River from the eastern boundary of DNM to the
confluence of the Green River has been
designated as eligible for inclusion in the
National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
(National Park Service 1979).

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