Technical Committee Members Requesting R3-1 Document Comments

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United States Department of the Interior Mr. John G. Sidle U.S. Forest Service 125 North Main Street Chadron, NE 69' )37 Dear John, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Ecological Services Nebraska Field Office 203 West Second Street Grand Island, Nebraska 68801 March 6, 2000 Because of your experience and expertise with the Platte River and/or one of the four federally listed endangered or threatened species associated with the river, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) requests your review and comment on the enclosed materials. All comments are welcome, but the Service is particularly interested in your review of those portions of the attached documents dealing with the species you have studied. The attached Draft Milestone R3 -1 Document has been produced by the Service pursuant to the "Cooperative Agreement for Platte River Research and Other Efforts Relating to Endangered Species Habitats Along the Central Platte River, Nebraska" (CA). The first portion of the draft explains some of the background of the CA, and the purposes and objectives of the related "Proposed Platte River Recovery Implementation Program" (Program). Milestone R3 -1 addresses the evaluation of the effects of Program activities on four federally listed endangered or threatened species which occur in and downstream of the central Platte River. A description of the evaluation process and the rationale for determining needed data are followed by an outline of questions that need to be addressed to adequately evaluate the effects of the Program on the target listed species. Tables that summarize data needs according to the outline of questions concludes the draft R3 -1 document. Also attached is a preliminary description of suitable habitat for the four species of interest. As discussed in the draft R3 -1 document, the Service believes it is necessary to develop a definition of suitable habitat (i.e., at least a preliminary definition of suitable habitat for the target species in the Platte River) prior to Program implementation. The Service believes this is necessary not only to guide implementation of beneficial water and land management strategies, but also to measure the progress of the Program in providing benefits to the target species (via increases in amount, quality and quantity of suitable habitat) at the end of the first Program increment of 10 to 13 years. This is a sensitive issue. Not all parties to the CA agree with the Service's opinion that definitions of suitable habitat are necessary at this point, nor is there agreement on what constitutes those definitions. The Service recognizes that "suitable" habitat may differ from observed measurements of various parameters of habitat used by the species. However, for the