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1980 because of procedural changes in the lisring process. in 1981 in lieu of reproposing the species under the Act, the Arizona De plrtme^± ^f Game and Fish and the Fish and Wildlife Service entered into a memorandum of understanding to reintroduce razorback suckers into portions of their historic range in Arizona. Recently, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish signed a similar memorandum to begin reintroducing the species into portions of the San Juan River in New Mexico. This recovery alternative is possible because, in 1974, the Fish and Wildlife Service began experimenting with artificial production of razor- back suckers at Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery (Toney 1974). More recently, the razorback sucker rearing program has been moved to the Service's endangered fish facility at Dexter, New Mexico. Approximately 20,000 fingerling razorback suckers were produced at Dexter in 1981 and stocked into historic habitats in the Salt, Verde, and Gila Rivers in Arizona (Johnson in press). Nearly one million razorback larvae have been pro- duced at Dexter in 1982 and 700,000 of those have already been stocked into the Salt River. An additional 50,000 will be reared to fingerling size (10 cm) before stocking later this year. The razorback sucker reintroduction program is the first attempt at such a major cooperative effort for native, non-game fish species in the Southwest Monitoring will reveal the success o is recovery action. If self-sustaining populations resu e Species FJIII have vvCr. :CI.VYCred ~ ^th . ,...ma. °Q3 arfiprr and at a re a ve y ow cost. tee ccess u t e traditi nal rs ng procedure can be reinitiated.. Woundj`in (Plagopterus argentissimus} (Fig. 5) The woundfin was once distributed throughout the lower Colorado River and its major tributaries from the Virgin River downstream to Yuma, Arizona, and then up the Gila and Salt Rivers (Minckley 1973). Drying of the lower reaches of the Salt and Gila Rivers eliminated woundfin from the majority of its historic range and resulted in it being listed as an endangered species in 1967. Today, this species persists only in approxi- mately 60 km of the Virgin River and 7 km of LaVerkin Creek, a tributary of the Virgin River (USDI 1979c). The woundfin was first listed by the federal government in 1967 under the 1966 Act as endangered and is also protected by Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. The Virgin River has remained a relatively safe haven for woundfin despite very heavy irrigation demands, road construc- tion through the Virgin River narrows, inundation of the lower 50 km of the river by Lake Mead, and encroachment by the competitive red shiner (Notropis lutrensis). However, a recently proposed water-power project (the Allen-Warner Valley Project) will decrease river flows and could result in significant reductions in woundfin reproduction (Deacon 1977). The Woundfin Recovery Plan was completed in 1979 (USDI 1979c) and recommends two major recovery objectives: (1) maintain and enhance the Virgin River population and habitat; and (2) restore woundfin to suitable historic areas. To date, implementation of the first objective has involved only monitor- ing woundfin population trends in the Virgin River and research efforts to delineate habitat requirements and the impact of com- petition. Reintroduction plans call for stocking woundfin in the upper Gila River of Arizona. Although the Arizona Department of Game and Fish tentatively favored the reintroduction, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management questioned the stocking because of its possible impact on several planned or ongoing projects. At this writing no woundfin have been stocked into the Gila River. Future recovery efforts will concentrate on obtaining July -August 1982 ~~ i approval to reintroduce woundfin into portions of its hisorcc w~a,r' range, improving production techniques, and protection of the `~ a r/ wild population and its habitat in the Virgin River. ~~~ / Gila topminnow (Pceciliopsis occidentalis) (Fig. 3) `j / ~ ~ L The Gila topminnow is endemic to the Gila River of central a'`~~ ~ Arizona and southwestern New Mexico and was once the most ~,n?~+~~lt' abundant fish in that basin, inhabiting nearly every cienega, ~.~ spring, and tributary stream lower than 1500 meters elevation (~~~ (Meffe et al. in press). Decline of this small livebearer parallels 5 loss of habitat; by mid-century, damming and overutilization of surface water confined remaining populations to springs and spring runs: Even in these isolated, disjunct refugia, the nafive topminnow began to be replaced by the non-native mosquitofish (Gambusia a/~inis) (Schcenherr 1981). By 1977, only ten wild and three stocked populations persisted (Minckley et al, 1977). By 1981 five of the wild populations were dominated by mos- quitofish and two more destroyed by water development; one of the stocked sites had been destroyed by flooding and another invaded by black bullheads (Ictalurus me(ss). Gila topminnows are listed as endangered under the Act and by the states of Arizona and New Mexico. A recovery plan is being drafted: Production of Gila topminnows at Dexter National Fish Hatch- ery, New Mexico, and Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Arizona, .vas rn;:~ated several y-ears ago t. assure sufficient stoc!~s for reintroduction efforts. In September 1981, the Fish and Wildlife Service signed athree-way memorandum of understanding with the Arizona Department of Game and Fish and the U.S. Forest Service to reintroduce the Gila topminnow into waters within its" historic range. Establishment of 50 new self-sustaining topmin- now populations was set forth as the recovery goal in the mem- . orandum, with an extensive monitoring effort to document sur- vival or to initiate selection of new localities if the first-choice reintroduction sites fail to maintain topminnow populations. . Reintroduction efforts started in May 1982; by July 1982, sev- enty-two sites will have been stocked. An important difference between the Gila topminnow and razorback sucker recovery actions is that the former species is federally listed and thus is subject to all pursuant regulations of the Act As presently written, these regulations provide equal protection to both reintroduced and wild populations of listed species. This .interpretation of the Act almost assures conflicts when proposing to reintroduce topminnows into springs and livestock tanks that may have nearly a century of traditional agricultural use. The Service has agreed to consult on the impacts . of all traditional uses of the reintroduction sites to assure that those uses do not jeopardize the survival of Poecifiopsis. Under this program, we believe Gila topminnow may meet the criteria for removal from both federal and state lists by the end of this decade. FUTURE RECOVERY DIRECTION In order to assess the future of recovery actions for South- westemfishes, it is necessary to make several assumptions about the Act and the Southwest in general. 1. The Endangered Species Act will be reauthorized by Octo- ber 1982 in essentially its present format 2. The U. S. human population will continue its Southwestern migration, increasing the demands upon an already over- burdened water supply. 3. Water will continue to be one of the most valuable resources in the West. Demand for domestic and industrial water will 5