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<br />The Pueblo Chieftain Online <br /> <br />Page I of 1 <br /> <br />0010<311 <br />Rio Grande board pledges to nurture <br />endangered bird <br /> <br />By ERIN SMITH <br />THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN <br /> <br />ALAMOSA - Colorado may be exempted from critical habitat designation for <br />the southwestern willow flycatcher, a small migratory bird, if the Rio Grande <br />Water Conservation District comes up with a habitat conservation plan. <br /> <br />The bird, which was listed as endangered in 1995, just loves the San Luis <br />Valley, the water conservation district's board of directors was told this week. <br /> <br />"What activities do we have to perform to make that little bird feel at home?" <br />asked board member John Shawcroft, a La Jara area rancher. <br /> <br />The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in compliance with a court order, has <br />repossessed nearly 1,600 miles of river floodplains in California, Arizona, <br />Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico as critical habitat for the flycatcher. <br /> <br />Tom Graf, a lawyer with the U.S. Department of the Interior, said that a plan <br />for preserving habitat that the tiny bird favors could mean that 60 miles along <br />the Rio Grande would be exempt from a "critical habitat" designation. <br /> <br />District chairman Ray Wright said the flycatcher has been found to flourish in <br />the San Luis Valley. The bird favors willows but also is known to inhabit <br />tamarisk, so there is a conflict regarding removal of that water-sucking tree for <br />water conservation purposes, the board was told. <br /> <br />Recently, the board received a $384,000 grant to develop the conservation <br />plan, and work is about to begin. <br /> <br />The board was told that a critical habitat designation wouldn't have much effect <br />on the area unless federal funds are involved with a project on the land. <br /> <br />The 5.5-inch flycatcher breeds and rears it chicks in late spring and through the <br />summer in dense vegetation along streams, rivers, wetlands and reservoirs in <br />the arid Southwest. The flycatcher migrates to Mexico, Central America and <br />possibly northern South America for the non-breeding season. Because the bird <br />is an endangered species, its willful destruction is forbidden. <br /> <br />'9 I 996-2004The Pueblo Chieftain Online <br /> <br />http://www.chieftain.com/print.php?article=/metro/I 098481342/16 <br /> <br />10/22/2004 <br />