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Mapping the Colorado River system by helicopter 'gives biologists 'big picture' of ~ndangered fish habitat By Connie Young videotape of the river. Using Public Information Specialist the video and a special com- Colorado Division of Wildlife puler system called the Map VERNAL, UTAH - A Image Processing System helicopter and video camera they can count and measu~ may seem unlikely tools for backwaters and side chan- recovering e~dang~red .fish. nels. To survive and grow. But by shooting aenal VIdeo- Colorado squawfish and tape of the Colorado River probably other endangered system, researchers can get a fish need such areas, which "big picture" perspective on have wanner water and are more than 500 miles of key separated from the river's endangered fish habitat main channeL "Video mapping" of the ''The ... d fro the CoI d Ri B. wo.., one m upper ora 0 ver asm d lells th be f . groun us enum ro (upstream of Lake Powell) IS fish' the . d h th ' . m nveran ow ey pan of a cooperative state I th hab' " 'd B and federal monitoring pro- use e lta~ saJ. ure.au gram aimed at detenninin of. ReclamatlO.n biOlogIst g MIke Pucherelll, who over- how many Colorado squaw- the $IOOo:xJ 'd fish, humpback chub. bony- sc:es .' VI eo map- tail h b d rb k k pmg ponlOn of the end an- cu an raw ac suc- . . . t' th wild d h gered fish momtonng pro- ers eXlS mean ow "Th'd ' much of their prefened habi- gram.e VI eo mappmg tat h shall ''b k complements the ground . suc as ow ac wa- ... b 'fyin th to.-. " . ail bl D fro wOu. y quanl1 g e "" ters. IS av a e. ata m t f hab'tat ail bl . th .. . amoun 0 I av a em e momtonng program IS th'. B th ded to sed d . . f1 e nve[ 0 are nee u to etennme nver ows ' , .'; that will be fit th fi h. make the momtonng pro- ne e s . fi""" Of h gram e eCtlve. ne team 0 researc ers The monitoring program wor~s from the ground ~ol- is funded by the Recovery lectmg data. on the fish. Program for Endangered Fish These blOlogls.ts: ~rom the of the Upper Colorado River Colorado DIvIsIOn' of Basin. Wildl.ife, Utah Division of The fish are endangered ~L1dllfe Res?u~es and I}.S. because of human impact on F,sh and WIldlife Service. their habitat, such as water ~apture L?e rare fish by set. development and introduc- ~g SpeCI~ nets and by run- tions of non-native fish, rung elecmc currents ~ugh Some biologists say the fish- the water to tempo:ariIy stun es' decline points to drastic the fish. They weIgh. mea- changes in the natural river sure ~d count ~e fis~ before environment, similar io the releasmg them m the nver. coal miner's canary, whose Researchers use this data death forewarns workers of to monitor long-term popuIa. toxic gases underground. tion trends and to determine Aerial photography was if the fish are affected by used to' make recom- environmental changes. mendations on adjusting recovery projects and fish flows of Flaming Gorge management programs. Dam. on the Green River in At the same time, a team Utah. The Bureau. the federal of researchers from the U.S. agency responsible for the Bureau of Reclamation uses dam's operation, has given a helicopter to shoot aerial preliminary approval to those . .... ~ . { .:",' . , , ";'~,~,""':"""'-,', . . . . - . , :.:! .;_' ..L.. ,,' ,-' I . ," . . . d" .:~.~, '" " . .~ {' :~'. . " Photos by Connie Young Top: Bureau of Reclamation helicopter takes off from Jensen, Utah, to videotape the upper Green River. Bottom: Bureau researchers Rich ClarK (left) and Mike Pucherellllayout 1 &-foot panels that will serve as refer- ence points for measuring distances on the videotape. recommendations and has Before going airborne, implemented them on an Bureau researchers first do interim basis. their "ground-truthing." That Other ways of making involves identifying and flow recommendations have measuring landmarlcs such as ',been more controversial, bridges, which will be video- often relying on professional taped from the air as standard judgment and methods used reference points for measur- with cold-water trout ing river features. streams, not the warmer If no bridges are nearby, waters used by the native researchers create man-made fish. said Recovery Program landmarks by laying out 15- Director John Hamill, foot white plastic strips in a "Everybody can relate to a giant "X" on the ground. picture of a river." said Becoming familiar with Hamill. "This gives us flow the "lay of the land" also recommendations are more readily accepted." See VIDEO, page 7 6