Laserfiche WebLink
<br />. In fall 2003, the Recovery Program completed the razorback sucker floodplain <br />habitat model to estimate the quantity of habitat needed for recovery. In April <br />2004, a Green River subbasin and site-specific floodplain management plan <br />was finalized to provide clear objectives and measures of success. A <br />management plan for the Colorado River subbasin is currently being drafted. <br />Based on the model and these management plans, the Recovery Program has <br />shifted from screening additional floodplain sites for potentia] <br />restoration/acquisition to focusing on sites already acquired or otherwise <br />available for management. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Floodplain habitat has been restored at five Bureau of Land Management sites <br />on the Green River, three sites at Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, three sites on <br />the Colorado River near Grand Junction, and two sites on the Gunnison River. <br />- The Recovery Programhas'acquired-l ,600-acres of-floodplain/wetland-habitat-- <br />along the Green, Colorado, and Gunnison rivers_ <br /> <br />. Habitat restoration was completed at the Unaweep Charolais Ranch near <br />Whitewater, Colorado, in October 2003. The site was designed as a razorback" <br />sucker nursery habitat for the lower Gunnison River. Because oflow flows, <br />site evaluation could not be conducted in FY04. Evaluation is tentatively <br />scheduled to occur in FY05 if funds are available and flows are high enough. <br /> <br />. The Recovery Program obtained an easement on 455 acres of floodplain habitat <br />on Thunder Ranch near Jensen, Utah, in December 2003. Restoration of a 330- <br />acre weIland on this property will provide important nursery habitat in a key <br />location for young razorback sucker and is expected to greatly contribute <br />toward recovery of the species. Installation of manifolds and pipelines to divert <br />selenium-laden waters to the river and breaching of levees was completed in <br />July 2004. Site evaluation is slated for FY05 if funds are available and flows <br />are high enough. <br /> <br />· Habitat restoration was completed at the Audubon property near Grand <br />Junction, Colorado, in August 2004. The site was designed as a razorback <br />sucker nursery habitat for the 18-Mile Reach ofthe Colorado River. Evaluation <br />is tentatively scheduled to occur in FY05 if funds are available and flows are <br />high enough. <br /> <br />· Infonnation gained from studies on survival oflarval razorback sucker and <br />bony tail in the presence of nonnative fishes is being used to determine the <br />amount and type of floodplain habitat needed for recovery. These studies were <br />completed in FY04; reports will become available in FY 05. In addition to <br />survival/recruitment studies, research will focus on entrainment of drifting <br />larvae into floodplain habitats by using semi-buoyant beads and stocked, <br />hatchery-produced larvae. <br /> <br />8 <br />