Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br />Photo by Greg _Corie <br />Kathy Holley, Bure.au of Reclamation,' <br />and Frank Pfeifer,. U:S. Fish and, <br />Wildlife Service,put their heads <br />together to do research on razorbacks. '.' <br /> <br />DeaL . MiS':> HoJ lev <br />.... :::r..hanh::.-JoLOLf __ ..€ar._..n <br />. T-r~J I ;.h.q . ...".s....- _qi.~T"_'__'~"'--' <br />-fj,5_'1_.._. ...J .. .... <br />-----,-:.".,cr--'--. .- ;;;.. hop e. ~-" . 'YO,",. ...-~..- <br />. ,_, . . W.__._.\<va.:...-.r... . . '. "::;;D-- n <br />. .'~ ~~-_: <br />.~._:_.. (~~-' . <br /> <br />. ===-~~;;.J; · ..,,\ h . <br />'~~~'L--' . "....IAW_.S, . <br />. -d.~ ~-. .'- '".-''' .... <br />_.__8 .n..-:-~... <br />. ........ ..' .' _.tA~pb4G~ ~hl.{f.:. ___ <br />'. .;. her-' Ef"'..i3''''!: . <br />---------f! d---:-s'<Ac:f'i-e~, .' <br /> <br />.. . .. <br />This ihank~you leller is one of many sent to Kathy Holley by Grand Junction-area <br />schoolchildren after she talked with.them about endangered fish. . <br /> <br />Recla';'ation biologist combines scientific.knowledge, personal touch <br /> <br />The' day. starts unde'r the glow of flu- <br />orescent 'Iights. Surrounded. by' the <br />whir of pumps and the gUrgle of bub- <br />bles rising' through' water, Kathy' <br />Holley checks on hundreds of tiny fish <br />living in neatly organized giass jars. <br />They are larval razorback suckers, 'part <br />of a study she proposed to determine . <br />the effects of selenium contamination <br />on the reproductive' success. of this' <br />endangered Colorado River fish. <br />A Bureau of Reclamation biologist, <br />. Holley _works on a <br />team to recover fish <br />that once flourished <br />in the upper Colorado <br />. River Basin. <br />Her review of the <br />young fish complete, . <br />Holley loads a pick- <br />up with 'gear .- <br />Kathy Holley waders, jars' and <br />. plankton filters .....: <br />and heads out for the. morning's field <br />work. Her itinerary will include visits <br />to three sites where she willcilllect <br />zooplankton specimens and gather <br />water for use in the selenium study. <br />Holley came late to. science. She did <br />other things first wife, mom, entrepre-. <br />neur. But when she had an opportunity <br />to go back to college, she took advan- <br /> <br />r..--- _.."':-'-......-;-: . I <br />....k. {~ <br />'1" """ <br />-t.....~. <br /> <br />~~, <br />-.}, <br />'~ <br />~~~ <br /> <br />tage of it.. First with an Associate of <br />Science degree' from . . Colorado <br />. MoUntain College, then. with a bache- <br />lor's degree in biology from Mesa State. <br />College in Grand Junction;Colo" <br />including classes in toxicology at Mesa. <br />and Adams state colleges. . <br />Her. studies deepened a long-held <br />interest in the effecis of contamimints, <br />which led to experiments aimed at dis- . <br />. 'c.overing whether contaminants such. <br />as selenium, a natu~ally-occurrlng .' <br />. trace element, might De hindering sur- <br />vivalol" native Colorado River fish.- <br />Holley.also works with landowners. <br />whose flood plain property might heIp <br />recover endangered. nalive -. fish. She <br />has discovered that g~nuine friendli-' <br />ness 'and an. unaffected . manne.r can <br />help calm suspicions that landowners <br />. may have for the federal government. <br />That attitude probably was one rea-. <br />son a local' property owner allowed <br />Holley and other .researchers to use a <br />river side channel on his land as one of <br />three Grand Valley sites for sttidying. <br />effects of selenium on razorback sucker. <br />reproduction; Bob Burdick of the Fish <br />. and Wildlife Service made the initial. <br />. contact with the landowner, paving the . <br />. way for Holley' and other scientists to <br />'6 <br /> <br />continue working with the individual, <br />installing dikes and puinps .on the chan- . <br />nel to control water flow and .then plac- <br />ing 36 adult razorback sucker in the <br />water for a period of 18 months, . <br />According to Holley, the landowner <br />worked nearly hand-in~hand with 'the <br />biologists, . often. monitoring water. <br />flows himself and turning on the pump <br />when levels were too low. . <br />Because she sees education as a key <br />part Of efforts to preserve the environ- <br />ment. She has guided schoolchildren <br />to the study site at Walter Walker State <br />. Wildlife Area to taik about endangered . <br />fish and water qualitY. She also has <br />helped with Earth Day presentations to <br />fourth-graders at the Clifton outdoor <br />classroom in Grand Junction. <br />. The final sample gathered, Holley <br />loads one last jar into the back of .the <br />pickup and pulls off her waders. . <br />There's a busy afternoon ahead. . <br />And why does she devote her ener- <br />gies to the recovery program? <br />"I work for the fish," she says. <br />. "This is something I can contribute to. <br />the benefit of the environmenl." <br />...:... By 'Greg' Corle <br />(Greg Corle is a free-lance writer in <br />Grand Junction; Cola.) . <br />