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INTRODUCTION The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) began a study of the mainstem fishes of the Upper Colorado River Basin in July, 1979`. That study, Colorado River Fishery Project (CRFP) included the Colorado River from Lake Powell to DeBeque, Colorado and the Green River from its confluence with the Colorado River upstream to Split Mountain Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument (DNM). The study plan was expanded in 1981 (preliminary sampling was initiated in fall, 1980) to include the Yampa and White Rivers, Colorado and Utah. This paper presents the results of the Yampa River Study. Because of potential conflicts between proposed water projects and the survival of endangered fishes, the FWS and the National Park Service (NPS) proposed a study of the Yampa River in 1980. The goal of this study was to supply the FWS with information for preparing Biological Opinions under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, and to provide FWS and NPS with information needed for planning purposes. The FWS and NPS signed a cooperative agreement {(14-16-0006-81-931(IA)] in the spring of 1981 to study fishes of the Yampa and upper Green rivers within DNM. The Colorado Division of Wildlife (CD0W) also cooperated in this study and continued an ongoing fish monitoring program in the Yampa River. In addition, FWS initiated studies on the upper Yampa, above DNM, with funds provided by Congress. The Yampa River is the largest tributary of the Green River. Although historic flows of the Yampa have not been altered by dams, several water development projects are planned. These include the Juniper-Cross Mountain Project (two reservoirs at km 90 and km 142), and: the Cheyenne Water Diversion Project (headwaters of the Little Snake River). These developments may be of significance to the endangered fish fauna of the Yampa River and several investigators (Holden 1973; Holden and Stalnaker 1975a, 1975b; Seethaler et al. 1979; Vanicek and Kramer 1969) have indicated the importance of the Yampa River and the upper Green River for endangered fishes, including the endangered Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius). Colorado squawfish have also been observed moving between the Yampa and Green rivers and a fish tagged by FWS in the Green River in 1979 was found 51.8 mi (83 km) up the Yampa River by CDOW biologists in 1980.