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<br />0026{S <br /> <br />Comments, Questions & Answers <br /> <br />Darryl Steele (Maybell) - Recalled that the August 2000 consensus included construction and <br />maintenance of fish screens, if needed to prevent entrainment (incidental take) of endangered fish <br />by diversions. That provision does not appear to be in the current plan. Wants it included. <br /> <br />T. Wright Dickinson (Moffat Co. Commissioner, Rancher) - Wants incidental take protection <br />extended to angling and other recreational uses. <br /> <br />Unidentified - What is the status of nonnative fish control? Is it having any effect? <br />Roehm - John Hawkins reported catching half as many pike this year as last, with twice as much <br />effort this year. At the same time, the number of Colorado pikeminnow has doubled. <br />Unidentified - What is being done with pike collected below Cross Mountain? No transport of fish <br />was observed. Are they being killed? <br />Roehm - Hawkins collected pike, but a different crew transported them. Fish were temporarily <br />placed in cribs (wire cages) in the river. A second crew removed them daily and transported them <br />in a hatchery truck to Rio Blanco. Pike collected in the Hayden area (Carpenter Ranch and Yampa <br />State Wildlife Area) were placed in SW A ponds. The only fish that may have been killed were <br />nonnative, nongame fish, such as carp and white suckers. <br /> <br />Unidentified - Has observed gillnets being used in Stagecoach Reservoir. Pike and trout were <br />killed. Why is money being spent killing gamefish? Anglers didn't stock pike in Stagecoach, <br />CDOW did (cites Denver Post article). Extermination effort at Williams Fork Reservoir failed. <br />Bill Elmblad (CDOW) - CDOW uses gillnets (and other gear types) to conduct population <br />estimates. Some mortality is inevitable, but is not the objective. Pike were stocked in Elkhead <br />Reservoir (-580 in 1977). No pike were ever stocked in Stagecoach by CDOW. <br /> <br />Unidentified - Will smallmouth bass be removed? <br />Elmblad:" Smallmouth have increased dramatically in some areas of the Yampa, constituting as <br />much as 38% offish caught. Other species are being signficantly reduced in number. Removal of <br />smallmouth is likely, but they will be moved to other waters accessible to anglers. <br />Roehm - Hawkins reports -lOx as many small mouth as pike. Too many to process effectively. <br />These were returned to the river alive. CDOW has requested a variance from the Nonnative Fish <br />Stocking Procedures to allow smallmouth to be moved to Elkhead. <br /> <br />Unidentified - Why stock (nonnative) brown trout and rainbow in the Yampa? Why not stock <br />native cutthroat? <br />Elmblad - Trout can be stocked in the river above critical habitat. Cutthroat do not fare as well in <br />the river as they do in smaller headwater tributaries. Brown and rainbow trout seem to prefer the <br />larger rivers; that is why CDOW stocks them there. <br />Roehm - The endangered fish are warm water species. Only pikeminnow extend as far upstream as <br />Craig, and trout are not likely to survive higher summer temperatures below Craig. Therefore, <br />conflicts between trout and endangered fish should be minimal. <br />Elmblad - Trout have been found downstream from Craig, but that is exceptional. <br /> <br />Unidentified -Is tamarisk removal part of the plan? <br />Roehm - No. Tamarisk is a concern, but its effect on the fish is unknown. Another endangered <br />species, the SW willow flycatcher, has occupied tamarisk as it displaces the bird's preferred (willow) <br />habitat. There are other programs pursuing tamarisk control. What is DNM doing? <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />Appendix E - Summary of Public Scoping Meetings <br /> <br />E-6 <br />