BOARD00507

• Board Meeting Date: 1/26/2000
• Description: WSP Section - Colorado River Basin Issues - San Juan Recovery Program - Section 7 Agreement
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Agenda item 23i
January 26-27, 2000 Board Meeting
Page 6 of 13

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The Program's initial Long-Range Plan was necessarily focused on the seven-year
research period as defined in the first Animas-La Plata Biological Opinion (October 25,
1991). It defined the principal Recovery Program actions scheduled for completion
through 1997. Because the research efforts during the 7 year research period did not
include implementation of specific, on-the-ground recovery actions that would directly
benefit the endangered fish or habitat and that would thus serve as components of
reasonable and prudent altematives to avoid jeopardy, the Service has identified other
reasonable and prudent altematives for implementation by sponsors of water
development and management activities (sponsors) to complete consultation. Now that
the seven-year research period has concluded, the Biology Committee is in the process of
identifying and prioritizing all foreseeable actions scientifically determined to be
necessary to achieve recovery of the endangered fish and their habitat in the San Juan
Basin, including projects requiring capital construction funds, and developing an updated
Long Range Plan. The Coordination Committee will review the recommendations of the
Biology Committee and adopt an updated Long-Range Plan, incorporating capital,
monitoring, and research projects as appropriate. The Long Range Plan, as amended and
updated annually, will be the basis for formulating annual budgets and making funding
requests for the Program. The Long-Range Plan will be reviewed annually by the
Coordination Committee and modified as needed to reflect new information and actions
needed to achieve recovery while continuing with water development. Additionally,
amendments to the Long-Range Plan (LRP) will be made to reflect available funding and
changes in priorities for implementation of recovery actions.

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6.0 Incidental Take

Section 9 of the Act and Federal regulation pursuant to section 4( d) of the Act prohibit
the take of endangered and threatened species, respectively, without a special exemption.
Take is defined as to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or
collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. Harm is further defined by the
Service to include significant habitat modification or degradation that results in death or
injury to listed species by significantly impairing essential behavioral pattems including
breeding, feeding, or sheltering. Harass is defined by the Service as intentional or
negligent actions that create the likelihood of injury to listed species to such an extent as
to significantly disrupt normal behavior pattems which include, but are not limited to
breeding, feeding or sheltering. Incidental take is defined as take that is incidental to, and
not the purpose of, the carrying out of an otherwise lawful activity.

Under the terms of section 7(b)( 4) and section 7(0)(2), taking that is incidental to and not
intended as part of the agency action is not considered to be prohibited taking under the
Act provided that such taking is in compliance with the terms and conditions of an
incidental take statement in a biological opinion, The Service will include incidental take
statements in biological opinions for activities in the basin. The incidental take
statements will identify reasonable and prudent measures from the LRP that will

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