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OQ087fl IIFORUM volume: linm. _ number _ . spring 200 I FOR APPLIED RESEARCH AND PUBLIC POLICY Endangered Econonries An alternative approtUh to compliance with the Endangered Species Act is restoring endangered fish in the Colorado and San Juan Rivers, BY .JAMES v. HANSEN n October 2000, Con- gress passed and sen ( to rhe president a bill !o authorize federal COSI- sharing for implementa- tion of recovery programs target- ing endangered fish. I The bill addressed rhe upper Colorado River and San Juan River basins in ponions of Urah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, I in- rroduced this bill in the House of Represenracives, with bipartisan co-sponsorship from members of the House from all four srares. The House Resources Committee ap- proved rhe bill, also with strong bipartisan support, There was strong biparrisan suPPOrt in the Senare as well. The legisladon had (he strong support of the four states involved as wen as power users. water us- ers, environmentalists, and the Clin[Qn administration.:! While HR 2348 did no, amend the En- dangered Species Act in any way, such widespread suPPOrt for a bill addressing the needs of endangered species is unprecedented. The broad support for the bill resulted from rhe manner in which these recovery programs work on a co- operative basis [Q achieve the goals of the Endangered Species Act and the goals of numerous and diverse Interests. Particulars of tho Act The Endangered Species Act was passed almosr unanimously by Congress in 1973, The purposes of the act are to conserve ecosys- tems thar threatened and endan- gered species depend upon, to con- serve endangered and rhreatened species, and co comply with trea- ties and conventions entered into by rhe Unired Srates regarding endangered and rhrearened spe- cies. The act declares ",har all fed- eral departments and agencies shall seek ro conserve endangered and threatened species and co uti- lize their authorities in furtherance of the purposes of rhis Acr." Later amendments declared "!har federal agencies shall coop- erate with state and local agencies to resolve water resource issues in concert with the conservation of endangered species." The key provisions thar imple- ment the act are Section 4, "De- termination of Endangered Species and Threarened Species," which sers forth procedures for idenrify- ing and listing endangered and threatened species; Section 7, "In- teragency Cooperation;" Section 9, "Prohibitive Acrs;" and Section 1 0, "Exceptions. .. Section 4 specifies rhe legal re- quirements and procedures for identifying and listing species, in- cluding responses co citizen peti- tions to list species. Once species are listed, all of rhe o,her provi- sions of the act come into play. Section 4 also requires develop- ment and implementation of re- covery plans for listed species and req uires a review every five years of rhe status of rhe species [0 de- termine if it should be removed from rhe lisr or should be changed in status with respect co being en- dangered 0 r rhrearened, The primary means of imple- menting the Endangered Species Act has been rhrough Section 7, "lnreragency Cooperation," This section requires the secretaries of the Interior and Commerce to uti- lize all programs under rheir pur- view in furtherance of the purposes Spring "2001 . 45