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DG.Nvc;;;:'~ ~s-r 5: - 2'1- 90 Razorback sucker added to Animas species study 5'/1.14 '-,a " . \' Denver Post Staff and Wire Reports /4. scheduled for June. ',~ I DENVER - The U,S. Fish and Wildlife ~ "The proposal to list the razorback Service plans to study the impact of the sucker as an endangered species is .iu~t Animas-La Plata water project on a sec- one more in a long line of environmental ond fish, the razorback sucker, because problems with the Animas-La Plata proj- the agency has proposed listing it as an ect," said Lori Potter, a lawyer with t~e endangered species. Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, A notice published by the agency in Even Interior Secretary Manuel Luj~n, Tuesday's Federal Register announced the guardian of the endangered specil:s plans to consider the razorback sucker for program, says he believes project backers endangered status. The announcement eoooe.'dlkJ.l areas: Green River inside Dinosaur National Monument, Col. will overcome their problems with the En- was made public yesterday. \ orado River from Grand Junction to Clifton. dangered Species Act and build the proj- The notice cites "significant changes" in ect, ' the razorback sucker's habitat because of might threaten the extinction of the CoIo- The $422 million project would provide Gov, Roy Romer and Rep, )3en Night- diversion of water, introduction of non-na- rado squawfish in the San Juan River Ba- water to two Ute Indian tribes in south- horse Campbell, D-Ignacio, want to sacri- tive fish and the construction and opera- sin, and ordered further studies that could west Colorado and northwest New Mexico fiee the rare fish to save the expensive wa- . tion of dams. delay the project for years. The Colorado as well as other residents of the area. It ter project, which will be mostly paid for The agency issued a draft opinion May 8 squawfish is listed as an endangered spe- has been in the planning stages for de- ' that said the Animas-La Plata project cies. cades, and groundbreaking had been Please see FISH on. 58 ~ r Another fish - razorback sucker - roils Animas waters FISH from Page 1 B by federal taxpayer dollars and not the beneficiarfes of the project. The decision by the wildlife ser- vice to study the razorback sucker was in response to a petition filed by the Sierra Club on behalf of a coalition of environmental groups. The razorback sucker is a native fish whnse population has been steadily declining for the past 10 years, according to the Sierra Club, and is found in limited num- bers in the Upper and Lower CoIo- rado River Basin. Its presence in the San Juan River may generate additional problems for the "already trou- bled" Animas-La Plata water project, the club said. But a spokeswoman for the wildlife service said it is not known at this time that the second fish studywiII affect the water project in any way. "It could make a difference if they find that the razorback is af- fected more than the squawfish, or less than the squawfish by the Ani- mas-La Plata," said Sharon Rose, a public affairs assistant with the service. Potter characterized the devel- opment as a "lesser hurdle" than the squawfish study. "The Bureau of Reclamation and the Fish and Wildlife Service will now need to consider not only the effect of the project on the squawfish but also the razorback," she said. "To that extent it consti- tutes an additional study obliga- tion," If the Fish and Wildlife Service decides whether to list the razor- back sucker as an endangered spe- cies, it has a year either to imple- ment a regulation listing the razorback sucker as an endanger- ed species, extend the period of consideration or withdraw the pr", posaI. If the razorback is listed as an endangered species, the Bureau of Reclamation must .agaln examine the Animas-La Plata project and. its impact to determine whether formal consultation on this partie. ular species is required.