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'fEW [Vol. 11 . w says of an ~d mechanism d, whether we '.lrse of aeons, :erstand, then ess parts? To ~ion of intelli- \Ido Leopold 1 :l Western :lamation began 'e kilometer im- 'tah - Wyoming I with rainbow ish. In order to 1 the "rough" or e Wyoming and ) eliminate un- ~r and bonytail ve drip stations ison, along 715 nes. The three people, numer- trkable amount lently, in 1963, 1. rainbow trout rand bonytail D). the reports in Paul Riuer Poisoning on TION: NATIVE FISH : James E. Deacon ~ichard S. Wydoski 1m for Endangered WNST EXTINCTION, 1993] OF RAZORBACKS AND RESERVOIRS 37 chub are now federally protected endangered species, and could be extinct in the wild by the end of the decade. The 1962 Green River poisoning, however, did not cause the endangerment of the razorback or bonytail. In fact, the ecological changes wrought by the Flaming Gorge dam were ultimately more of a factor in the reduction of native fish populations.4 It was the alteration of riverine environments by the Flaming Gorge dam and tens of structures like it in the Colorado River Basin that have brought four indigenous fish species to the brink of extinction. The Green River poisoning is, however, a startling and appropriate symbol of attitudes that had prevailed - and sometimes still prevail - toward water "development," not just in the basin, but all over the West. "Trash" fish and other "useless" species sim- ply did not figure into wildlife managers' decision making. In fact, during the 1960s many fishery biologists could not or would not even identify non-game species captured in their sampling operations.5 Today four species of endemic Colorado River Basin fish are listed as endangered: the Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus Lucius), humpback chub (Gila cypha), bonytail chub (Gila elegans), and razorback sucker (Xyrauchen tex- anus).6 These species once were common in the Colorado River system from Wyoming to northwestern Mexico, but to- day are reduced to a few remnant populations.7 One study reports, for example, that the bonytail is "functionally ex- tinct; only a few rare individuals exist."8 This author goes on to note that "[i]f it were not for the stark example pro.vided by 4. Wydoski & Hamill, supra note 2, at 124. 5. Holden, supra note 2, at 46. 6. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Final Biological Opinion on the Opera- tion of Flaming Gorge Dam 3 (Nov. 25, 1992) [hereinafter Flaming Gorge Opinion). 7. Holden, supra note 2, at 46. 8. Holmes Rolston III, Fishes in the Desert: Paradox and Responsibility, in BATTLE AGAINST EXTINCTION, supra note 2, at 93, 104 (quoting R.J. Behnke and D.E. Benson, Endangered and Threatened Fishes of the Upper Colorado Riuer Basin, COLO. ST. U. COOP. EXT. SERVo BULL., 1980 at I, 20 (Vol. 503A)).