9490

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9490
• Author: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Title: Final Environmental Assessment for Procedures for Stocking of Nonnative Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin.
• USFW Year: 1996.
• USFW - Doc Type: Grand Junction.
• Copyright Material: NO

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On June 7, 1995, President Clinton signed Executive Order 12962 relating to
recreational fisheries. The executive order states that "Federal agencies
shall, to the extent permitted by law and where practicable, and in
cooperation with States and Tribes, improve the quantity, function,
sustainable productivity, and distribution of U.S. aquatic resources for
increased recreational fishing opportunities..." It further states that
Federal agencies will work to identify and minimize conflicts between
recreational fisheries and the Endangered Species Act.
To this end, the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries
Service issued a joint draft policy December 13, 1995, for conserving species
listed under the Endangered Species Act while providing and enhancing
recreational fisheries opportunities. This draft policy discusses the decline
in aquatic species and their habitats and the socio- and economic benefits of
recreational fisheries. This policy stressed the importance of an ecosystem
approach to management that recognizes multiple use of aquatic systems. The
policy outlined several elements with respect to implementation of the
Endangered Species Act that include: 1) increase efforts to work
cooperatively with effected stakeholders, 2) encourage greater participation
of stakeholders in implementation of recovery plans, and 3) provide more
information to the public regarding the relationship between conservation and
recovery of listed species and recreational fisheries.
On November 29, 1995, Colorado Governor Roy Romer and Secretary of the
Interior Bruce Babbitt signed a Memorandum of Agreement to "facilitate and
promote collaboration and cooperation in managing and conserving fish and
wildlife species and habitat within Colorado in a manner that is consistent
with the present direction of Colorado's Smart Growth Initiative as well as
state and federal laws." One of the primary elements of this agreement was to
facilitate collaborative development of conservation plans to address risks to
species and their habitats so that mandatory measures required by law would
not be invoked. The agreement also reiterated the Department of Interiors
commitment to "promptly recover and de-list threatened and endangered
species." It further states that the State and Department of Interior will
work together to define recovery objectives and to seek down-listing or
de-listing soon after those recovery objectives are met.
III. DESCRIPTION OF ALTERNATIVES
This assessment examined a no action alternative and five action alternatives.
The preferred alternative was developed from the alternatives analyzed in the
draft Environmental Assessment and from public comment received during the
comment period. Alternatives "no action" and number 4 are less restrictive
than the preferred alternative and the Interim Stocking Procedures of October
1994. Alternatives 2 and 3 are more restrictive. Alternative 5 is very
similar to the interim procedures but less restrictive than the preferred
alternative. Alternative 1 would have required case-by-case review for waters
below the 100-year floodplain boundary prior to stocking (Figure 2). The
alternatives represented a range of options, which led to the development of
the preferred alternative.
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