Quantity/Quality/Wildlife Meeting January 5 1995

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Clearly, the situation described above is serious. However, there is a strong sense that there are still opportunities in Colorado for proactive measures to succeed in achieving an acceptable level of protection of our remaining native flora and fauna. Colorado is blessed with substantial ecological diversity that is brought about by the compression of many different life (or vegetative) zones into relatively small geographic areas. There are six such zones present in Colorado as a result of the large elevation differences that occur in our state -- alpine above 11,550 feet; subalpine above 9,500 feet, montane above 8,000 feet; foothills above 5,500 feet; high plains on the eastern slope; and upper sonoran shrublands on the western slope. There are 13 to 15 major ecosystem types or ecological subregions distributed through these six life zones. Moreover, Colorado's rather extreme elevation changes generally occur in relatively small watershed areas distributed throughout the state. Therefore, our state enjoys a natural redundancy of ecosystem types, especially within the life zones occurring between the foothills and the alpine regions. This redundancy strengthens the opportunities for protection of Colorado native species, if proactive efforts are initiated. Finally, it is important to note that nearly 29 million acres, or 43 percent of the land in Colorado is publicly owned. Relative to states where a much higher percentage of land is privately owned, this further increases the opportunities for natural resource management that will protect Colorado native species. III. Federal Regulation A. Endangered Species Act Biologists often describe declining aquatic species and communities in terms of population viability and the extent, functionality, and connectivity of habitat. Most of the rest of the public is not as well versed in the scientific methods for measuring of biological health. Nevertheless, Colorado citizens are becoming increasingly familiar with declining aquatic species and communities, though through a decidedly different terminology; namely, the legal and regulatory jargon of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The ESA was first passed by Congress in 1973 with amendments in 1978, 1979, 1982 and 1988. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is the primary agency responsible for administration of the ESA. Once a species is federally listed, the Service assumes the primary management responsibility for recovery. Other federal agencies, including the Bureau of Reclamation, the US Army Corps of engineers, the Forest Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management must adhere to practices 4