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<br />, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />THE RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM <br /> <br />On January 22, 1988, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Governors of Colorado, Utah and <br />Wyoming, and the Administrator of Western Area Power Administration, an agency of the U.S. <br />Department of Energy, negotiated a Cooperative Agreement to implement the Recovery <br />Implementation Program (RIP) for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin. <br />This RIP addresses water depletion impacts and recovery needs of the Colorado squawfish, <br />humpback chub, razorback sucker, and bonytail, while allowing for future development of <br />Colorado River water in compliance with State water laws, interstate compacts, and the ESA. <br />Participation in the RIP can serve as a Reasonable and Prudent Alternative for water <br />development. <br /> <br />In order to further define and clarify the RIP, a Section 7 Agreement and a RIP Recovery Action <br />Plan (or RIPRAP) were developed by the participating agencies. The Agreement established the <br />framework for conducting all future Section 7 consultations on depletion impacts related to new <br />water projects and all impacts associated with operations of existing projects in the Upper Basin. <br />Actions outlined in the RIPRAP are used to determine if sufficient progress is being made in the <br />recovery of endangered fishes to enable the RIP to serve as the RP A to avoid jeopardy. The <br />RIPRAP was finalized on October 15,1993, and has been reviewed and updated annually. <br /> <br />The Ute Tribe has never been a participant in this Program. The Environmental Assessment of <br />the RIP was sent to BIA for comments in 1987, but it did not provide comments. The Tribe <br />claims that no formal effort was made to include them in the discussions. The Tribe also asserts <br />that, since the RIP has been in effect, it has received either belated notice or none at all of Section <br />7 consultations on water projects in the Duchesne River Basin. Participation in the RIP is <br />voluntary. The agencies assert that there has never been any intention to exclude the Tribe from <br />the RIP activities. More recently, the Tribe has been identified as an interested party, and is sent <br />information on RIP initiatives. <br /> <br />The FWS annually assesses the impacts of projects that require Section 7 consultation and <br />determines if progress toward recovery has been sufficient for the RIP to serve as the RP A. If <br />FWS agrees that sufficient progress is being achieved, biological opinions are written which <br />identify past activities and accomplishments of the RIP that support it as the RP A. If sufficient <br />progress toward the recovery of an endangered species has not been achieved by the RIP, actions <br />from the RIPRAP are identified which must be completed to avoid jeopardy to the fishes. For <br />"historic" projects, these actions serve as the RP A as long as they are completed according to the <br />schedule identified in the RIPRAP. For "new depletions", these actions may serve as the RPA <br />only after they are completed. <br /> <br />34 <br />