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. . " Area Manager DRAFT 35 Obispo County, as well as in the inland counties, i.e., Kern, Inyo, Mohave, San Bernardino, and Imperial. Unitt (1987) documented that the flycatcher had been extirpated, or virtually extirpated (i.e., few territories remaining) from the Santa Clara River (Ventura County), Los Angeles River (Los Angeles County), Santa Ana River (Orange and Riverside counties), San Diego River (San Diego County), lower Colorado River (Imperial and Riverside counties and adjacent counties in Arizona), Owen's River (Inyo County), and the Mohave River (San Bernardino County). Its former abundance in California is evident from the 72 egg and nest sets collected in Los Angeles County between 1890 and 1912, and from Herbert Brown's 34 nests and nine specimens taken in June of 1902 from the Lower Colorado River near Yuma. Survey and monitoring efforts since the late 1980s have confirmed the flycatcher's presence at a minimum of II sites on 8 drainages in southern California, including the Colorado River. Current known flycatcher breeding sites are restricted to coastal southern California from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and California's Great Basin near the towns of Kernville, Bishop, Victorville, the San Bernardino Mountains and along the lower Colorado River. The largest populations exist along the San Luis Rey, Santa Margarita, Santa Ynez, Kern and Owen's Rivers. Combining survey data for all sites surveyed since the late 1980s for a composite population estimate, the total known flycatcher population in southern California is 95 territories, with possibly as many as 178. Texas Distribution and Abundance. The Rio Grande and Pecos River in western Texas are considered the easternmost boundary for the flycatcher. Unitt (1987) found specimens from four locations in Brewster, Hudspeth (Rio Grande), and Loving (Pecos River) Counties where the subspecies is no longer believed to be present. Landowner permission to survey riparian areas on private property has not been obtained; thus current, systematic survey data are not available for Texas. There have been no other recent reports, anecdotal or incidental, of flycatcher breeding attempts in the portion of western Texas where the subspecies occurred historically. It is unknown at this time whether the flycatcher has been extirpated from Texas, but it is unlikely that there are significant numbers. Nevada Distribution and Abundance. Unitt (1987) documented three locations in Clark County from which flycatchers had been found prior to, but not after 1970. In 1998, two pairs of flycatchers were documented. Current survey efforts have documented breeding birds along the Amargosa, Pahranagat, Muddy, and Virgin Rivers (McKernan and Braden 1997, 1998, 1999) in southern Nevada. In summary, more intensive and widespread surveys and monitoring efforts have documented the presence of a greater number of flycatchers than known at the time oflisting. However, this does not imply an increase in the actual population, or that the status of the species has remarkably improved. Continuing losses of occupied habitats and degradation of other areas precludes the possibility of population increases. Recovery actions may take many years to implement and decades for habitat to be restored. Protection of occupied habitats as a consequence of section 7 consultation does provide some stability for those populations, but the net result is still a declining population.