WSPC04884

• File Number: 7630.650
• Description: Wild and Scenic - Yampa River
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 10/8/1979
• Title: Comments of Colorado River Water Conservation District - RE-Draft Study-EIS - Green and Yampa Rivers - Prepared by National Park Service
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

001361

of the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Draft documents,
nonetheless, expressed unsubstantiated biological opinions

on the consequences of upstream development on habitat

requirements of allegedly endangered fishes. Since the Fish

and Wildlife Service acknowledges the habitat requirements

of such fishes to be largely unknown, and, since, legitimate

scientific differences exist as to the best ways and means

of accomodating the requirements of the fishes. public

comment and input should be material to any discussion of

the subject in any Final documents. The official prohibition

on such dialog effectively stultified the objective of

public input. and results, as before, in a total loss of

reliability in the Draft reports.

(3) The Board of the River District further presumes

the Congressional directive to the Secretary of the Interior

(the Secretary's duties as to the instant studies were

apparently delegated first to BOR, and. later, to NPS)

requires an objective study and report on the merits and the

demerits of the proposals. Even a cursory examination of

the Draft documents results in the conviction the study was

wholly subjective, rather than objective. and has. as its

principal objective, the foreclosure of upstream development

on the Yampa River wi.thou.t regard to the consequences to the

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