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on ponds where landowners will cooperate in this recovery effort. Costs of screening the ponds will be borne by the Recovery Program or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This alternative will provide only a partial solution to the chronic escapement of nonnative fishes from floodplain ponds. Although this preventive measure will be part of the Recovery Program effort to control the chronic escapement of nonnative fish species, it will not become a largescale effort under the Recovery Program. No impacts are expected on vegetation and land use, Indian trust assets, or environmental justice under this alternative. Fish and Wildlife Resources. Nonnative fishes would be retained in floodplain ponds to provide food for piscivorous birds and sportfishing. Wildlife species would not be impacted. - Endangered Species. Chronic escapement of nonnative fishes into the Upper Colorado and Gunnison rivers would cease, reducing predation upon or competition with the endangered Colorado River fishes. Socio-Economic Factors. Mechanical control devices ,would be installed on the outlets of floodplain ponds only with the consent and cooperation of the landowner. Therefore, no adverse sociological impacts will occur under this alternative. Some economy would be provided to the project area for installation of the structures. The cost associated with the installation of mechanical control devices on the outlets of floodplain ponds would be covered through the Recovery Program. Therefore, no adverse economic impacts will occur and, in fact, some local economy would be generated from this Recovery Program effort. D. Alternative 4 - Slope the Bottom of Ponds in the Floodplain and Reconnect the Ponds with the Rivers. Under this alternative, floodplain ponds would be reconnected to either the Colorado River or the Gunnison River if the bottoms cowl d be sloped so that they drai n i nto the river as the streamfl ows subside. Since the floodplain of both the Colorado and Gunnison rivers has been mined rather extensively for gravel, this area contains numerous gravel-pit ponds that could be connected with the river. Only select gravel-pit ponds would be suitable for reconnection with the rivers. Many of the gravel pits are deep -- below the deepest parts of the rivers. Such ponds may allow nonnative fish species to flourish that would be counterproductive to recovery of the endangered fishes. By connecting select floodplain ponds with the river, embayments would be created that could control reproduction of nonnative fishes while, at the same time, they would likely benefit the endangered species. The declining numbers of the endangered Colorado River fishes is attributed to the lack of recruitment due to low survival from predation and competition by nonnative fishes and possibly starvation during the critical early life stages. It is believed that the high zooplankton productivity would 23