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<br />(Baxter and Simon 1970), these fish may have completely returned to Flaming <br />Gorge Reservoir before the September electrofishing survey took plac~. <br />Flannelmouth suckers, mountain suckers, longnose suckers, and one bluehead <br />sucker were also collected. with the greatly improved habitat conditions, <br />game fish may now establish a resident population, or possibly utilize <br />Currant Creek as a nursery stream in association with Flaming Gorge Reser- <br />voir. <br />Using beaver to improve habitat conditions at Currant Creek may have <br />fisheries significance in the future. However, because of the substrate <br />materials and the extremely heavy silt loading carried in Sage Creek, the <br />beaver management work appears to have little if any direct fisheries sig- <br />nificance. The significance of the improved habitat conditions along Sage <br />Creek on the fisheries resource may be indirect, due to the reduction of <br />silt delivered to Flaming Gorge Reservoir. <br />This study is still in progress and we hope to conti~ue most of the <br />projects already described. In addition, we hope to expand the study to <br />include a determination of the optimum level of willow utilization by a <br />"known" beaver population which will allow the riparian community to be <br />self-sustaining. This will most likely involve a management strategy which <br />will require some excess individuals to be live-trapped and removed to <br />additional areas where riparian habitat improvement is desired. Also, we <br />are planning to develop a monitoring program with the BLM range management <br />staff to determine what level of livestock grazing can be allowed in riparian <br />areas which will not jeopardize the established willow community. Riparian <br />areas cannot logically nor practically be withdrawn from livestock grazing <br />pressure on a large scale, but carefully managed grazing systems should be <br />able to allow a certain level of livestock use based on time of use, the <br />phenological requirements of willow and other riparian community plants, <br />and the other resource values associated with riparian areas. <br />In summary, I would like to stress several points. Probably the most <br />serious threat to any wildlife population is the loss of its habitat. <br />Healthy riparian and wetland habitats are crucial to the life cycles of a <br />great diversity of wildlife and plant species, and this is especially true <br />in the arid western United States, where water is a precious commodity. <br />Improving or restoring these riparian habitats is not an easy task. The <br />use of beaver to help accomplish this end is not a panacea, and may not be <br />applicable in all situations. However, a beaver management program designed <br />to solve a specific habitat probl~m should be considered in any habitat <br />management strategy. I would like to close with a quote by Bruce Smith <br />(1983), "... in order to effectively improve or reconstruct riparian ecosys- <br />tems, it is essential that we first develop a wholistic appreciation for the <br />vast and complex assemblage of physical and biological forces at work within <br />a system. Only then can we take a close and hard look at individual elements <br />of a system, identify limiting factors, and design appropriate management <br />strategies for the solution of our riparian problems." <br /> <br />33 <br />