Public Meetings October 13 1994 Designation of Critical Habitat for Endangered Colorado River Fish

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07 -18 -94 10:28AM FROM GOVERNOR'S OFFICE TO 918662115 P002 Ahnurce OMY \•T1 it I11Rr(I7Y)k FiSH AND WIId1L1FF si;SV1(X United States Department of the In Reply Refer To: FNS /TE /CCU94 -99 Honorable Roy Romer Governor of Colorado Denver, Colorado 80203 Dear Governor Romer: FISH AND WILDLIFE Si RVIU Washington. D.C. 20240 Interior JUIL 1991 GOVERNOtiv JUN 2 2 1994 - ...._.. . . irt I'll V rJ Thank you for your December 21, 1993, letter, also signed by Governors Bruce King of New Mexico, Michael Leavitt of Utah, and Mike Sullivan of Wyoming, concerning the designation of critical habitat for endangered fish in the Colorado River and San Juan River basins. Specifically, you asked how designation of critical habitat for the Colorado squawfish, humpback chub, razorback sucker and bonytail chub (actually designated on March 30, 1994) affects the Upper Colorado River Basin and San Juan River Recovery Programs (Recovery Programs). An identical letter is being sent to each of the signatories. These Recovery Programs are cooperative, long -term programs of Federal and State agencies, environmental organizations, and water development interests - aimed at -.re- establishing self - sustaining populations of endangered Colorado River fish while providing for continued water development in these two river basins. The Upper Colorado River Program, administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service's Region 6 Office in Denver, encompasses the Upper Colorado River upstream of Lake Powell, excluding the San Juan River, a Colorado River tributary. The San Juan River Program is administered by the Service's Region 2 Office in Albuquerque . An important approach that evolved out of these Recovery Programs is that the programs themselves can serve as "reasonable and prudent alternatives" for water development proposals.undergoing formal section 7 consultation, when it is determined that a proposal is likely to jeopardize the existence of endangered fish. Of course, this interpretation is possible only when the proposed project is consistent with the terms of the Recovery Programs. In 1993, participants in the Upper Colorado River Basin program developed a Recovery Action Plan ( RIPRAP) identifying specific actions and timeframes needed to expeditiously recover endangered fish in the Upper Basin; the San Juan River Recovery Program has similar provisions. Accomplishing recovery actions in both programs according to their established schedules is vital, because a showing of "sufficient progress" is essential to the two programs continuing to serve as reasonable and prudent alternatives for water projects undergoing section 7 consultation. Primary recovery actions under the RIPRAP include acquisition, lease, or restoration of important flooded bottomland