Platte River Management Joint Study Final Report

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. 47 3. Area to be modeled bv the Platte River Manacrement Joint Studv. - The area considered in this report for modeling habitats and developing a habitat management plan is from about Lexington, Nebraska, downstream to near Chapman, Nebraska. Although specifically applicable to the Big Bend reach of the Platte River, the existing models could be adapted to most other reaches of the Platte River system in Nebraska. This is' especially important if a holis.tic management plan for endangered species models on the entire Platte River system is needed. The area of applicability is consistent wxth the hydrologic models being developed bythe Hydrology Workgroup (D. Woodward, pers. comm. ) . . . . . 4. The Platte River ManaQement Joint Studv effort to develop models applicable to the habitat needs of endanQered and threatened sr)ecies. Five workshops were organized by the Grand Island Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and were held in Grand Island, Nebraska, in 1986 to develop habitat models for endangered species and forage fishes. . A. WhoopinQ Crane The first whooping crane workshop was held 19 - 21 May 1986 and involved 21 individuals and species authorities representing Federal, State, and private conservation organizations and agencies, and water development interests. A report titled, "Whooping crane habitat criteria for the Big Bend area of the Platte River" (Shenk and Armbruster 1986), was produced after workshop.completion whi.ch contained habitat suitability curves. The report contained a list of participants at the workshop. An additional workshop, involving 14 individuals and species authorities representing Federal, State, and private conservation organizations and agencies, was held in November 1986 to further refine the suitability curves. The product of this effort was a report titled "Whooping crane roosting habitat criteria for the Platte and North Platte Rivers in Nebraska" (USFWS 1987b). These criteria were further refined by the Biology Workgroup and species authorities in 1988. The resulting model was based•on three aspects of whooping crane'biology that are assumed to best descri:be roosting habitat occupied by the birds in the Platte River system.