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SPECIES RECOVERY OBJECTIVES FOR FOUR TARGET SPECIES <br />IN THE CENTRAL AND LOWER PLATTE RIVER <br />(WHOOPING CRANE, INTERIOR LEAST TERN, <br />PIPING PLOVER, PALLID STURGEON) <br />I. INTRODUCTION <br />A. Background <br />Pursuant to the July 1997 Cooperative Agreement for Platte River Research and Other <br />Efforts Relating to Endangered Species Habitats Along the Central Platte River, <br />Nebraska (Cooperative Agreement), a variety of monitoring and research studies, as <br />well as habitat protection plans are being proposed and developed for the central and <br />lower reaches of the Platte River in Nebraska. The Cooperative Agreement implements <br />certain aspects of the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) recovery plans for the target <br />species (interior least tern, piping plover, whooping crane and pallid sturgeon) that <br />relate to their associated habitats. However, it is not developing species recovery <br />objectives for the target species. The Cooperative Agreement defines the central Platte <br />River as from Lexington to Chapman, Nebraska, and it defines the lower Platte River as <br />between its confluence with the Elkhorn River and its confluence with the Missouri <br />River. The intent of the Cooperative Agreement is to develop and implement a <br />basin -wide Recovery Program after appropriate analyses and reviews are complete. <br />The FWS recovery plans for the four target species may discuss species and habitat <br />needs on the Platte River and may even have numerical recovery objectives for the <br />Platte River. However, they do not specify quantifiable and measurable recovery <br />objectives for the central reach of the Platte River (least tern, piping plover, whooping <br />crane) or lower reaches of the Platte River (pallid sturgeon) in terms of numbers of <br />animals or some other measurable biological response. For example, the recovery <br />objective in the current recovery plan for the interior least tern on the Platte River is <br />750 breeding pairs, but that objective is not limited to only habitats occurring in the <br />central Platte River or to some other type of measurable biological response for the <br />species. <br />B. Purpose of Report <br />The FWS believes it is important to know more specifically the number of individuals <br />or other measurable biological responses that could be supported by the central Platte <br />River and contribute to the recovery of the least tern, piping plover and whooping crane <br />and that could be supported by the lower Platte River and contribute to the recovery of <br />the pallid sturgeon. Establishing species recovery objectives for the target species is not <br />being done as part of the Cooperative Agreement process. The information and <br />recommendations in this report can be used by the FWS and others in focusing recovery <br />