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

Clearly, recent research by CRFP, DOW, and others
has yielded important information, however, we
must be willing to admit that our knowledge is
largely surficial and that questions such as
those above must be answered if this endemic fish
is to be effectively managed.

Perhaps the most crucial research/management
implication of past studies is that a coordinated
research effort throughout the upper basin, based
upon a critically organized and goal-oriented
research design, will yield needed empirical data
in the shortest possible time. It is important,
however, that a realistic time frame be allocated
for this work--researchers who have been involved
with implementing past field studies and inter-
preting collected data realize all too well the
difficulties of deriving meaningful information
on this elusive species.

The questions and comments offered in the above
synthesis have obvious broad applicability in
virtually all circumstances where the recovery
and management of an endangered species is an
issue. Important and useful insights relative to
the ecological requirements of the Colorado
squawfish may be derived from knowledge of the
needs of large wide-ranging predators in general,
and more speciiically, from research conducted
elsewhere on large potamodromous cyprinids.
Unquestionably, habitat alterations resulting
from water resource development in the upper
Colorado River basin will continue as states
endeavor to develop their full entitlements under
the 1922 Colorado River Compact and the 1948
Upper Colorado River Basin Compact (Bishop and
Porcella 1976). These compacts insure that the
upper basin deliver specified flows to lower
basin states and that Utah is entitled to minimal
flows from Colorado. Accordingly, the water
remaining in upper basin river channels after all
entitlements are met will represent the totality
of potential habitat available for the Colorado
squawfish and other rare Colorado River endemic
fishes. If remaining flows are to provide
acceptable fish habitat, they must be budgeted to
provide for the species' life requisites in terms
of timing, quantity, and quality. Inferences
made from broadly applicable ecological knowledge
can provide important guidelines for flow
budgeting considerations until more species-
specific information has been derived. Clearly,
the highly regulated Colorado River offers
continually diminishing unaltered habitat for the
perpetuation of a species that evolved under
vastly different ecological conditions from those
which it now faces. Yampa Canyon in northwestern
Colorado is one of the few remaining river
reaches in the upper basin that has retained much
of its pre-development (Le., "wilderness")
character and provides an excellent outdoor
laboratory for investigating cause and effect
relationships for this particular endangered
species. In a general sense, knowledge gained to
date from studies in Yampa Canyon is illustrative
of the connection between the preservation of
rare species and the maintenance of large
wilderness areas. In the cases of the Colorado
squawfish, its future throughout much of

its existing range appenrs to be closely tied to
the continuation of practices that insure the
natural features of Yampa Canyon.

REFERENCES

Archer, D.L., H.M. Tyus, and R.A. Valdez. Field
methodologies of the Fish and Wildlife
Service's Colorado River Fisheries Project.
Transactions of the Bonneville Chapter,
American Fisheries Society, Vol. 1980: 13-36.

Banks, J.L. Fish species distribution in
Dinosaur National Monument during 1961 and
1962. Fort Collins, co: Colorado State
University; 1964. 96 p. M.S. thesis.

Bishop, A.B., and D.B. Porcella. Physical and
ecological aspects of the upper Colorado River
basin in relation to energy development and
environmental problems. Utah Water Research
Laboratory, Utah State University; 1976. 32 p.

Colorado River Fishes Recovery Team.
squawfish recovery plan. U.S. Fish
Service. 1978. 65 p.

Colorado
and Wildlife

Ehrenfeld, D.W. The conservation of non-
resources. American Scientist. 65:648-656;
1976.

Hamman, R.L. Spawning and culture of Colorado
squawfish in raceways. Progressive Fish-
Culturist. 43: 173-177; 1981.

Haynes, C.M., and R.T. Muth. Reproduction of
Colorado squawfish, Ptychocheilus lucius, in
the Yampa River, Colorado (1980-83). Paper
presented at 15th Annual Symposium, Desert
Fishes Council, Death Valley National Monument,
CA. 17-19 Nov., 1983 (in press).

Haynes, C.M., and R.T. Muth. Identification of
habitat requirements and limiting factors for
Colorado squawfish and humpback chubs. In:
Wildlife Research Report, part 2, Nongame
Investigations; Jan. 1984. Colorado Division of
Wildlife, Fort Collins, CO: 177-202.

Haynes, C.M., and R.T. Muth. Downstream
transport of larval Colorado squawfish in the
Yampa River, Colorado (U.S.A.). (in
preparation).

Haynes, C.M., T.A. Lytle, E.J. Wick, and R.T.
Muth. Larval Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus
lucius Girard) in the upper Colorado River
basin, Colorado, 1979-1981. The Southwest
Naturalist 29(1):21-33; 1984.

Holden, P.B. Distribution, abundance, and life
history of the fishes of the upper Colorado
River basin. Logan, UT, Utah State University;
1973. 59 p. Ph.D. dissertation.

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