Quantity/Quality/Wildlife Meeting January 5 1995

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Q «-- ge9a� vti /t'` ?-use„ Executive Summary The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Department of Public Health and Environment (DPHE) are circulating this Draft Concept Paper to encourage public discussion regarding an issue that increasingly appears critical to the economic and ecological future of Colorado: the protection of the remaining water - dependent native plants and animals in our state. There is substantial, but currently still incomplete, evidence that Colorado native species and their habitat have suffered significant decline in recent years. This decline has important implications. First, it threatens the future of a critical component of Colorado's high quality natural environment. Second, due to the impact of federal regulatory requirements, particularly regarding the protection of threatened and endangered species, this decline threatens to seriously constrain Colorado's future economic vitality and its water and wildlife resources management options. Based on existing information, 29 percent of native amphibious species and 56 percent of native fishes in Colorado are considered at risk or already have been lost. Several Colorado native species are currently listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Several additional water- dependent species are candidates for such protection if actions are not taken quickly to protect or enhance their habitat. Although the ESA provides a "safety net" that can be invoked as a management tool of last resort, the time - consuming and costly processes imposed under this statute often do not allow the flexibility necessary to accommodate both species protection and economic activity. Moreover, due to their traditional focus on individual species, protection efforts carried out under the ESA - often ignore the needs of other species, leaving open the door for possible future listings and regulatory obligations. DNR and DPHE believe that self - sustaining natural ecosystems and sustainable economic development will be critical to the future of Colorado, and believe that these goals are compatible and attainable. Rather than allow federal requirements to continue to dictate private and governmental actions regarding our state's natural resources, these two agencies propose that Colorado's interests will be better served by proactive efforts at the state and local level to achieve and sustain a degree of native species protection that avoids the need for future federal listings. Private and local governmental interests in Colorado have contributed a great deal to recent evidence that cooperative, proactive efforts to improve or refine the management of natural resources within Colorado can be more effective and much less costly that the historical pattern of resorting to regulation and, in many cases, litigation. ii