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<br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />Project background-Nonnative smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu currently <br />occupy portions of the Yampa and Green rivers in Colorado and Utah that are <br />designated as critical habitat for four federally endangered fishes: Colorado pikeminnow <br />Ptychocheilus lucius, razorback sucker Xyrauchen texanus, humpback chub Gila <br />cypha, and bonytail G. elegans. Smallmouth bass are a predatory and competitive <br />threat to these endangered fishes. Participants of the Upper Colorado River <br />Endangered Fish Recovery Program (Recovery Program) determined that control of <br />nonnative fishes was necessary for recovery of endangered fishes in the Upper <br />Colorado River Basin and the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), a Recovery <br />Program participant, developed an Aquatic Wildlife Management Plan for the Yampa <br />River Basin that recommended managing the river reach downstream of Craig, <br />Colorado to enhance survival of native and endangered fishes. The management plan <br />recommended removal of some nonnative predators from sections of the Yampa River <br />but also acknowledged the importance of providing fishing opportunities for local <br />anglers and recommended that when practical gamefish removed from the river should <br />be translocated to nearby waters that are isolated from the Yampa River. Specifically, <br />the management plan recommended removal and translocation of smallmouth bass, <br />northern pike Esox lucius and channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus and lethal removal of <br />white sucker Catostomus commersonii (CDOW 1998). Potential benefits of reducing <br />nonnative predator abundance in the Yampa River include reduced predation and <br />competition with native fish, increased forage for endangered Colorado pikeminnow, <br />and reduced recruitment of predators to endangered fish nursery areas downstream. <br /> <br />This project implemented a portion of the management plan's recommendations by <br />removing invasive smallmouth bass from two sections of the Yampa River and was one <br />of several similar projects conducted concurrently in the Green River Basin with a <br />common goal of improving the survival of endangered fishes. The objective of this <br />project was to determine if the number of smallmouth bass in our study sites could be <br />