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<br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />The Recovery Implementation Program for the Endangered Fishes of the <br />Upper Colorado River Basin (Recovery Program) was established in 1988 with a <br />cooperative agreement to recover and delist endangered fishes while providing the <br />potential for existing and new water development to proceed in the Upper Basin <br />(USFWS 1987; Hamill 1993). The four endangered fishes; humpback chub <br />(Gila cypha), bony tail (Gila elegans), Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), <br />and razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus); will be considered recovered once self- <br />sustaining populations and habitat are established. <br /> <br />The process of recovery within the Upper Basin is guided by a management <br />plan known as the Recovery Implementation Program, Recovery Action Plan <br />(RIPRAP, USFWS 1995). The RIPRAP outlines actions necessary to achieve <br />recovery of the endangered fishes based on the best available biological information <br />and the recovery goals for each species. It guides future planning, research, and <br />recovery efforts including the annual work plan and budgeting. Annual review <br />allows modification of the plan as knowledge increases about the fish or the <br />ecosystem, as priorities change, or as states develop their entitlement. <br /> <br />The RIPRAP applies recovery actions to each of seven sub-basins of the <br />Upper Colorado River Basin, including the Green, Yampa and Little Snake, <br />Duchesne, White, Colorado, Gunnison, and Dolores rivers. The Little Snake River is <br />the largest tributary of the Yampa River which has been identified as a river of high <br />priority for recovery of endangered fishes in the Upper Basin. This document is a <br />Management Action Plan (MAP) for the Little Snake River sub-basin. The plan will <br />follow the guidelines and format of the RIPRAP to direct recovery of endangered <br />fishes in the Little Snake River in Colorado and Wyoming and in the context of <br />basin-wide recovery actions. The goal of the MAP is to develop a plan that defines <br />