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understanding of the life history and movement patterns of each population. For the <br />Colorado pikeminnow, for example, each life history stage has a different geographical <br />locus, and the fish must be able to move freely between different areas. Moreover, the <br />tendency of adults to make extensive use of tributaries argues for maintenance of a <br />web of interconnected habitat in which physical fragmentation is avoided. Development <br />of this perspective on recovery cannot be achieved simply by listing the distribution of <br />individuals in each of the tributaries. It would be aided, however, by setting recovery' <br />goals established in an ecosystem perspective. Such an expanded perspective would <br />result in more consideration of maintaining other native fishes as a necessary part of <br />recovering the endangered fishes. <br />The decision by the Recovery Program to commission this evaluation of the role of <br />tributaries in the recovery of the endangered fishes is a clear signal that the program is <br />tatting a broader view of recovery needs. In the time that the program has been in <br />existence, much has been learned about the ecology of the endangered fishes. The <br />steady accumulation of knowledge has driven an evolution of ideas about recovery. <br />We see this culminating eventually in an ecosystem view that will be guided by a multi- <br />species or ecosystem recovery plan. <br />We developed the following recommendations during the course of this study <br />-The Recovery Program should expand efforts to circumvent or eliminate <br />barriers to fish movement, especially in high priority tributary stre~ims. <br />- The Recovery Program should reevaluate alternatives for providing fish <br />access to upstream areas. Endangered fish populations in tributary <br />reaches provide the best opportunities for range expansion, but a <br />comprehensive system is needed to evaluate recovery success. <br />- The Recovery Program should develop and implement plans for removing <br />nonnative fishes from tributaries and controlling nonnative fish movement <br />into mainstream rivers from source areas in tributary streams. <br />- The Recovery Program should determine environmental attributes of the <br />mouths of tributary streams that result in utilization by larval razorback <br />sucker. <br />- The Recovery Program should establish which tributaries are primary <br />sediment sources for Colorado pikeminnow nursery habitat. <br />- The Recovery Program should initiate a study to measure the release of <br />metals from selected reservoirs in Utah that are known to experience <br />seasonal depletion of dissolved oxygen. <br />xi <br />