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<br />squawfish's historical range in the following section of the San Juan River Basin (59 FR
<br />13374).
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<br />New Mexico. San Juan County: and Utah. San Juan County. The San Juan Riyer
<br />from the State Route 371 Bridge in T, 29 N" R, 13 W" section 17 to Neskahai
<br />Canyon up to the full pool elevation in the San Juan arm of Lake Powell in T, 41 S.,
<br />R. 11 E" section 26.
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<br />In determining specific river reaches required to prevent extinction and ensure recovery of
<br />the Colorado squawfish, the Service relied upon available biological information and the
<br />species' approved Recovery Plan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991), Information
<br />relating to the species' biological and ecological needs, such as habitat, reproduction,
<br />rearing, and recruitment, was used in determining if an area was needed for inclusion in
<br />critical habitat. The revised Colorado Squawfish Recovery Plan provided both downlisting
<br />and delisting criteria. During the consideration of critical habitat areas, downlisting criteria
<br />were generally equated to the survival level; delisting criteria were related to the recovery
<br />level. The reach of the San Juan River from Lake Powell to Farmington, New Mexico,
<br />which incorporates the section of the river encompassing the project facilities and
<br />impacted by their presence and operation, was included in the Recovery Plan as necessary
<br />for both downlisting and delisting, Therefore. this portion of the San Juan River has been
<br />identified by the Service as essential to the survival and recovery of the Colorado
<br />squawfish.
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<br />RAZORBACK SUCKER
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<br />The razorback sucker, an endemic species unique to the Colorado River Basin, was
<br />historically abundant and widely distributad within warmwater reaches throughout the
<br />Colorado River Basin. Historically, raz~rback suckers were found in the mainstem
<br />Colorado River and major tributaries in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico,
<br />Utah, Wyoming, and in Mexico (Ellis 1914; Minckley 1973)' Bestgen (1990) reported that
<br />this species was once so numerous that it was commonly used as food by early settlers,
<br />and further, that commercially marketable Quantities were caught in Arizona as recently as
<br />1949. In the Upper Basin, razorback suckers were reported in the Green River to be very
<br />abundant near Green River, Utah, in the late 1800's (Jordan 1891). An account by
<br />Osmundson and Kaeding (1989) reported that residents living along the Colorad9 River
<br />near Clifton, Colorado, observed several thousand razorback suckers during spring runoff
<br />in the 1930's and early 1940's. In the San Juan River drainage. Platania and Young
<br />(19891 relayed historical accounts of razorback suckers ascending the Animas River to
<br />Durango, Colprado, around the turn of the century. Platania and Young (1989) also
<br />reported the 1976 capture of two adult razorback suckers by VTN Consolidated, Inc., from
<br />an irrigation pond adjacent to the San Juan River near Bluff. Utah.
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<br />In August 1990, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (Lief Ahlm, Fisheries
<br />Specialist. pers. comm.) interviewed two anglers from Aztec, New Mexico, who claimed to
<br />have "commonly" caught razorback suckers in the Animas River near Cedar Hill bridge in
<br />the 1930's and 1940's. When the two men were shown a battery of photographs,
<br />including roundtail chub (Gila robusta), humpback chub (Gila ~), bony tail (Qili!
<br />eleoansl. bluehead sucker (Pantosteus discobolus), flannelmouth sucker (Catostomus
<br />latioinis), razorback sucker, and Colorado squaw fish, they both immediately identified the
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