7999

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7999
• Author: Colorado River Wildlife Council.
• Title: Minutes, Colorado River Fish & Wildlife Council.
• USFW Year: 1996.
• USFW - Doc Type: April 23-24, 1996.
• Copyright Material: NO

4) The lack of certainty of where final power will be t
shared with Native American peoples--what role they have to
play and how much of a stakeholder or what kind of
stakeholder are they in the overall operations and resources
of the river.
5) The apparent willingness of those involved in the
basin to look at new approaches to the problems--creative
solutions to the problems of this period 80 years advanced
from the original ideas and compacts of the river--that the
new approaches not do away with the law of the river or long
standing agreements, but naturally evolve to manageable and
modern approaches to today's problems.
In response to questions, Mr. Moody said that
environmental issues were central to all the discussions and
concerns of the many stakeholder groups, especially the
topics dealing with American Indians. Much of the impetus
of the participants was a concern in solving the
environmental issues of the day.
BONYTAIL INTRODUCTIONS
Mr. Hamill provided information on the plan underway to
reintroduce bonytail chub, probably in either an area of the
Middle Green River near Vernal or the Colorado River near
Moab. These fish were carried through the winter at Dexter
NFH and originally thought to number about 2,000; however,
high losses were taken during the winter and the number is
probably closer to 400-500 currently. The largest
uncertainties of the program now are the monitoring that
will be made on the introduction and concerns of how much
hybridization with other Gila species may occur in these
areas of the system. Previous results of introductions
indicated there has been slight, if any, survival of stocked
bonytails so that this continues to be a pioneering effort
to see what is happening. Actions pertaining specifically
to bonytail chub have been very disappointing and so the
service is trying every method reasonably available. This
year is the first of a new five-year program to stock
bonytails in the same areas.
George Divine, FWS Albuquerque, provided information
for the bonytail introduction programs in the lower basin by
reviewing the stocking from 1981 to 1993 wherein
approximately 200,000 fish were stocked unmarked into Lake
Mojave. During the period since, FWS has been collecting
some bonytail adults in Mojave believed to be from the
introductions, perhaps in the numbers of three to six adults
of each sex per year. Very small sample sizes of fish taken
from Mojave indicate that 15 of 19 fish were of an age that
could have come from the introductions. This leads FWS to
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