BOARD02169

• Board Meeting Date: 5/24/1999
• Description: Endangered Fish Recovery, ISF Water Rights Applications - 15-Mile Reach and Yampa - Status Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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. April 7,'1998

The Honorable Slade Gorton, Chairman
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on
Interior and Related Agencies
127 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Re: Recovery Program for Endangered Fish in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Dear Chairman Gorton:

The Nature Conservancy is an intemational non-profit conservation organization dedicated
to the protection of biological diversify. For more than 45 years, we have pursued this mission with
on-the-ground habitat conservation that is based on the best available science, takes a non-
confrontational, market-oriented approach, and builds partnerships with people and agencies across
the political spectrum. The Conservancy has over 900,000 individual, members and over 1,850
corporate sponsors.

I am writing on behalf of the Conservancy to request appropriations in Fiscal Year 1999 to
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for its share of the annual funding of the Recovery
Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin
("Recovery Program"). The Recovery Program is a cooperative venture among the states of
Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, environmental organizations, power users, water development
interests, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the USFWS and the Western Area Power
Administration. Now in its tenth year of operation, the program has the objective of recovering
four endangered fish species in the Upper Colorado River Basin while water development there
moves forward in cOmpliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The Conservancy joins the other partners in the Recovery Program in making the following
FY99 request to your Subcommittee. All oCthese requested appropriations are included in the
Administration's proposed budget.

1. An appropriation of $636,000 of resource management funds to the USFWS for the
Recovery Program;

2. An appropriation that will provide the USFWS with no less than $200,000 in funds under
Sectipn 6 of the ESA for the Recovery Program. In fiscal years 1992, 1993, and 1994, the
Subcommittee earmarked $200,000 in Section 6 funds for the Recovery Program and this
level of funding has been maintained throughout the past the four years;