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OO~Hl such site-specific management actions as may be necessary to achieve the plan's goal for the conservation and survival of the species; [and] objective, measurable criteria which, when met, would result ina determination....thatthe species be removed from the list." Such management actions and recovery criteria must address the five threat factors considered in listing the species. The ESA further prohibits federal agencies from taking any actions that are likely to jeopardize the continued existence oflisted species or adversely modify their designated critical habitats. Section 7 outlines procedures for interagency cooperation in conserving federally listed species and their designated critical habitats. Section 7(a)(l) requires federal agencies to carry out programs within their authority to conserve listed endangered and threatened species. Section 7(a)(2) and ESA regulations require these agencies to consult with the Service whenever actions they authorize, fund or carry out "may affect" listed species. Section 7(b)( 4) provides a process to permit federal actions that may result in "taking" some individuals oflisted species incidental to that action, although such incidental take cannot be to the extent that it jeopardizes the continued existence of the species. Section 9 defines "take" to mean "harass, hann, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect, or attempt to engage in any such conduct." "Hann" is defined under the ESA as "...an act which actually kills or injures wildlife. Such act may include significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns including breeding, feeding or sheltering." "Harassment" is defined as "...an intentional or negligent act or omission which creates the likelihood of injury to wildlife by annoying it to such an extent as to significantly disrupt normal behavioral patterns which include, but are not limited to, breeding, feeding, or sheltering" (50 CFR 917.3). Section 9(a)(I) and ESA regulations prohibit taking members of any listed species unless such take is specifically permitted. The Interagency Cooperative Policy for the Ecosystem Approach to the Endangered Species Act (59 FR 34274; USFWS and NMFS 1994) directs the Services to "[d]evelop cooperative approaches to threatened and endangered species conservation that restore, reconstruct, or rehabilitate the structure, distribution, connectivity and function upon which those listed species depend." This policy requires the Services to "[ d]evelop and implement agreements among multiple agencies that allow for sharing resources and decision making on recovery actions for wide-ranging species." Consistent with this intent, the governors of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, Secretary of the Interior, and Administrator of the Western Area Power Administration signed a cooperative agreement in 1988 establishing the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Implementation Program (Recovery Program) in response to concerns within the regulated community that enforcement of the ESA in the Upper Colorado River Basin would impact allocation and use of water under existing state laws and interstate compacts. In 2001, this agreement was extended to 2013. The goal of the Recovery Program is to recover the endangered fishes in the face of current and future water depletions from the Upper Colorado River Basin by offsetting the impacts of these depletions. On October 15, 1993, the Section 7 Consultation. Sufficient Progress. and Historic Projects Agreement (Section 7 Agreement) and Recovery Implementation Program Recovery Action Plan (RIPRAP) were finalized. The Section 7 Agreement was revised March 8, 2000 (Appendix A). The RIPRAP is updated annually, The Section 7 Agreement refined and clarified the framework for conducting consultations under Section 7 of the ESA on certain impacts of current and future water depletions in the Upper Basin and established procedures to determine if there has been sufficient progress in the recovery of the four listed fishes to enable the Recovery Program to continue to serve as a reasonable and prudent alternative for these depletions under Section 7, ~ 1=1' Management Plan for Endangered Fishes in the Yampa River Basin 2