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Feds bl6ck . Fish & ,Wildlife Service. takes 'leave of senses', ~ ~p , 1 :; . "~ May 8.1990 DliM Nunn . ,airy Harmon end Bob SlIbernlgel Daily Sentinel The Animas-La Plata waIN project that would provide watl:'r to two southern Colorado Indian tribes should be scuttled to save the Colorado squawfish in the h.lll Juan River, the U.S. Fish and Wild- life Service was to announce this af'ternoon. A draft copy of the Cede_ral agen- cy's report says "m the impacts of the project are likely to jeopardi1c the continued existence oUhe C, ' orado squawfish and further, U ." no reasonable and prudent aItt; I TJ'.. "," e+""&" '-"'4 ~ ,'. ". "/~ Da""~ ,.'.'. ..,'~ Tuesday natives have been id~ntified as a result of the consultation." It goes on to say that the U.S. Bu- reau of Reclamation should enter into an agreement with the Wild. life Service to study streamflow and if new information about" the squawfish - or other endangered fish such as the razorback sucker - is found, reconsideration could be given. "That is not a decision I would agree with," said U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong, R.Colo. "Such a decision would indicate to me they have taken leave of their senses. The whole notion sounds like fantasy, not policy. Please see Animas, page lOA :1)' ?l:,)::t,'.;.~ '., ..,.' ,.' . t" ". ',: I"'~'" '," J ; '.". <,");(i~.!,r'.','Y<;l..':f" ' 'en' tOEts OJ wvs -'''!'''"'''''' ',f~ ' '. ",' ':: 1" 'Grand Junction, Colorac;jo c".c Vol. 98, No. 159 . 25~ newsstand 20 pages .Ati.ii.D:~s- La Plata . . A struggle for survival Robert GIIrclalDaily Sentinel Gary Harmon Daily Sentinel Once the top 'of the aquatic food chain in Colorado, the en- dangered Colorado squawfish now competes with non-native species to survive in four West- ern Slope drainages. Lynn Kaeding, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife . Service in Grand Junction, said a short stretch of the San Juan River to the south holds a small population of mostly young, nat- urally occurring squawfish. In Grand Junction, a Colorado River fishery project is dedicat- ed to ensuring the survival of the squawfish. In addition to the San Juan and main stem of the Colorado, squawflsh live in the Gunnison River between Grand Junction and Delta, the Yampa and Green rivers and White River, Kaeding said. In the Colorado, where there has been the greatest effort to preserve the fish, Kaeding said he's unsure whether the squaw- fish population is holding steady or slowly declining. "I suspect the San Juan popu. lation is probably in a more pre- carious state than the one in the river here," Kaeding said. Squawfish thrived in Colora- do Rivers until dam building limited waters in which the wide.ranging fish could travel, spawn and develop.