7424 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

-4- longer. Management, approached as if the plans were merely reform actions to solve specific problems, with no subsequent interest in whether management goals were achieved, is unacceptable. Careful planning that incorporates ecosystem principles accompanied by follow up monitoring effort is essential. If the Bureau of Reclamation seeks to alter its mission from development to resource management, a major revision in perspective and skill will be required. A possible approach might include establishing, among Department of Interior agencies and leading scientists, an oversight group with the necessary breadth of perspective to meld science with natural resource management. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The committee's findings and recommendations provide advice to the Department of the Interior not only on the specific components of the GCES but also for the design and conduct of future environmental studies of a similar nature. These brief abstracts of the major findings are followed by recommendations in bold print. Valuable New Information The results of the GCES represent a substantial increase in knowledge of the Colorado River ecosystem as it exists in the Glen Canyon and the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, few data were available to describe the character of the river system prior to the closure of Glen Canyon Dam. This will remain a major impediment to our full understanding of the changes that have occurred as a result of the construction of the dam, although studying reaches of the Colorado not affected by impoundment may give important clues. Thus, the uncertainty about how the river continues to change and how it might be managed will be higher than if