8020

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8020
• Author: Horak, G. C.
• Title: Proceedings of the Symposium on Mitigating Developmental Impacts on Fish and Wildlife.
• USFW Year: 1979.
• USFW - Doc Type: March 1979.
• Copyright Material: NO

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

THE STATUS OF FISH AND WILDLIFE MITIGATION:

AN OVERVIEW

by

Gera1 d C. Horak
,Enviro Control, Inc.
Fort Collins, CO 80524

The achievement of successful measures for the protection of fish and
wildlife resources is a complex, multifaceted process. In its simplest
form, the process consists of three steps: formulation of a fish and wild-
life recommendation by state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, bargain
for an acceptable measure to both the fish and wildlife agencies and the
agency sponsoring a water resources development project; and implementation
and maintenance of the accepted measure by the agency operating the project.
Governmental decision makers have tended to accept ex ante analysis without
. --

an adequate inspection of the "track record" of such analysis. Becauseof
constant pressure to give priority to ongoing and new projects, fish and
wildlife agency decision makers historically have not gathered the retro-
spective information so essential to ensuring that fish and wildlife measures
succeSSfully protect the resource. However, in the past six years federal
agencies have recognized this need and have funded research to provide decision
makers with feedback on the consequences on previous decisions. This paper
summarizes six research projects analyzing the formulation, acceptance, and
implementation of 578 fish and wildlife recommendations associated with 146
water resource projects sponsored by seven federal agencies. On the basis of
these research findings, recommendations are offered to improve the effective-
ness of ff sh and wi 1 dl i fe measures.

1