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<br />DRAFT - August 11, 1999 <br /> <br />modified conditions of many western river systems, the Service takes firm stands to prevent <br />further deterioration of habitat that could lead to species extinction at every opportunity. <br />Some tribal and development agency officials argue that FWS is using a "recovery" standard <br />which is much higher than the jeopardy standard, and accordingly, that the bar to clear for <br />further Western water development has been raised. Whatever the merits of a particular RPA, <br />this exercise is often the source of confusion and debate. <br /> <br />FWS officials deny that they are using a "recovery" standard. They observe that the exercise <br /> <br /> <br />of avoiding jeopardy cannot be entirely divorced from recovery programs. When multiple <br /> <br />projects are planned in fragile stream systems, it is in everyone's interest to get listed and <br /> <br />candidate species on the road to recovery. An increasingly common element of RPAs for <br /> <br /> <br />Western water projects is the Recovery Implementation Program, or RIP, an inter-govern- <br /> <br />mental initiative designed to mix species recovery with resource planning, and which taps <br /> <br /> <br />multiple governmental sources for funding to perform and implement the studies necessary to <br /> <br />determine the needs of the listed species in !l stream system. RIPs bring all interested parties <br /> <br /> <br />into a process to resolve species recovery issues. The benefits of the multi-species habitat <br /> <br />conservation planning which can be served by such RIPs include future water resource <br /> <br />development. The four Tribes in the San Juan River Basin all participate in the San Juan <br /> <br /> <br />River RIP which is an element of the RPA for the ALP. The Ute Tribe of the Uintah and <br /> <br /> <br />Ouray Reservations in Utah was not invited to participate in the Upper Colorado River Basin <br /> <br /> <br />RIP when it was first organized in and has rebuffed recent invitations to participate. <br /> <br /> <br />Whatever the benefits of these programs, they are one way to resolve complex water <br /> <br />resource/endangered species issues. <br /> <br />The creation of these RIPs has not, however, quieted the debate over the ideal of recovery of <br />listed species in Western river basins, especially the ultimate recovery of endangered native <br />fish. Some question the viability of recovery within the context of the existing ecosystems. <br />In plain terms, they ask: can the species fully recover in river systems like the Colorado and <br /> <br />33 <br />