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<br />DRAFr AND PREDECISIONAL DOCUMENT - FOR COORDINATION COMMmEE REVIEW ONLY <br /> <br />~ <br />,::> 1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />,:::> <br />'~J <br />to 1.1 AUTHORITY <br />l\:l <br /> <br />The San Juan Recovery Implementation Program has as its two major bases; 1) obligation of all <br />federal agencies operating in the basin to fulfill the requirements of the Endangered Species Act <br />and other statutes, and 2) the responsibilities and authorities of the states and tribal governments <br />for the stewardship and management of natural resources of the Basin. <br /> <br />The San Juan Recovery Implementation Program (Program) became operational in October <br />1992, executed by the signing of a Cooperative Agreement by the Department of the Interior, <br />the States of Colorado and New Mexico, and the Ute Mountain Ute, the Southern Ute, and the <br />Jicarilla Apache tribes. The Program incorporated as its core the Reasonable and Prudent <br />Alternative included in the Biological Opinion for the proposed Animas-LaPlata Project and the <br />commitment of involved agencies to a Seven Year Research effort to document the response of <br />the native fish community to flows released from Navajo Dam to mimic the natural hydrograph <br />of the San Juan River. The Navajo Indian Irrigation Project Biological Opinion added to the <br />requirements and incorporated specific information needs for that project into the overall <br />investigative effort. Subsequently, a Biological Opinion was issued to the U.S. Bureau of Land <br />Management regarding oil and gas development in the Basin. This Biological Opinion included <br />participation of USBLM in the Seven Year Research Plan. Other entities may enter the Program <br />as a result of Endangered Species Act Section 7 consultation or as provided in the San Juan <br />River Recovery Implementation Program. <br /> <br />Section 5.3.1 of the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program document sets forth the <br />requirement of the Biology Committee to formulate a Long Range Implementation Plan (LRP) <br />to establish milestones to be utilized in analyzing the progress of the Program. <br /> <br />1.2 PURPOSE <br /> <br />The purpose of the Long Range Plan is to provide the infrastructure necessary to guide and <br />document the delineation and accomplishment of recovery steps to achieve the goals identified <br />for the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program. This Long Range Plan provides <br />milestones for marking progress in achieving the goal of recovery of the endangered fish species. <br />As set forth in the Program document, the goals of the Program are two-fold: <br /> <br />1. To conserve populations of Colorado squawfish and razorback sucker in the Basin <br />consistent with the recovery goals established under the <br />Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1531 et~. <br /> <br />2 <br />