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2.5.1 General Approach to Section 7 Consultations on Water Projects <br />Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA, or simply "Section 7" plays a role in both water use and endangered <br />species conservation in the Platte River Basin. Section 7 states that alI federal agencies must <br />insure, through consultation with the Service, that any action which they authorize, fund, or <br />carry out is not likely to jeopardize the survival and recovery of one or more endangered species <br />and/or adversely modify or destroy an endangered species' critical habitat. Section 7 is applied <br />in the Platte River Basin because the Big Bend area of the Platte River Basin is existing or <br />historic habitat to threatened and endangered species and is designatetl critical habitat to one of <br />these species, the whooping crane. Threatened and endangered species, designated critical <br />habitat, and species that are candidates for listing are shown in Appendix 6.3 to thisreport. <br />The types of habitats to be managed by the Program (wet meadow and other pra.irie grasslands, <br />riverine and other aquatic habitats, riparian woodlands, and croplands) are used by threatened <br />and endangered species and many other species. The Program initially will focus on the habitat <br />requirements of the fouz species presently believed to represent habitat management needs in the <br />Platte River ecosystem: bald eagle, whooping crane, least tern, and piping plover. The specific <br />habitat needs of other threatened and endangered species in the Big Bend area will be considered <br />as the Program develops. <br />The participants in the Program each have statutory responsibilities which cannot be delegated <br />or abrogated. It is also recognized that the Program is a unique, cooperative, and proactive <br />approach to conservation management of habitat and water resources designed to prevent the <br />need for the Service to issue jeopardy biological opinions through the Section 7 process. This <br />will be accomplisheci by accommodating the habitat and water needs of endangered species <br />through existing State water law systems, interstate compacts, and decrees of the U.S. Supreme <br />Court and by meeting the terrestrial habitat needs of the species through land management <br />actions. <br />20