Request for support in funding U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's

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February 26, 2004 The Honorable Conrad Burns, Chairman The Honorable Byron Dorgan, Ranking Member Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies Committee on Appropriations United States Senate 132 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Chairman Burns and Senator Dorgan: I am writing to request your support and assistance in insuring continued funding for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) participation in the development of a Federal /State basin -wide recovery implementation program (Program) for endangered species in central Nebraska. We respectfully request support and action by the Subcommittee to provide the appropriation of $982,000 in "recovery" funds (Ecological Services Activity; Endangered Species Subactivity; Recovery Element; Platte River Recovery Project) to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for fiscal year 2005 to allow FWS to continue its necessary participation. This is the same level of funding appropriated to the FWS in fiscal year 2004 for this project and insures that the Platte River is not de- emphasized in the FWS budget at a critical time in the Program's development. Congress has appropriated funding in this FWS line item each year since 1998. In 1997, the States of Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado and the U.S. Department of the Interior signed a Cooperative Agreement for Platte River Research and Other Efforts Relating to Endangered Species Along the Central Platte River, Nebraska (Cooperative Agreement). The signatories agreed to pursue a basin -wide, cooperative approach to address habitat needs of four threatened and endangered species - the whooping crane, piping plover, least tern and pallid sturgeon. The signatories to the Cooperative Agreement realize a comprehensive, cooperative approach for addressing the Endangered Species Act (ESA) issues in the Central and Lower Platte River Basin region is the most equitable and effective means to resolving endangered species conflicts. This cooperative approach also provides greater certainty that the Platte River will continue as a water source for irrigators, wildlife, and for the many people who reside in the Basin. The Department of the Interior has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) dated December 2003 to analyze the impacts of the proposed Program. The National Academies of Science (NAS) is currently conducting a review of the scientific aspects of the processes and methods used by the FWS in determining the habitat needs for the target species in central Nebraska.