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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Included in the Board folder are the summaries from the Biological Opinion (80) <br />Workshops which were held by Reclamation on June 16, 17, and 18, 1997. No one from the Board <br />staff was able to attend these workshops. Also included in the Board folder are: I) a copy of a letter <br />from the Ywna Valley Rod and Gun Club providing comments on the BO; 2) copies of two letters <br />from Reclamation responding to expressions of intent to participate in the Lower Colorado River <br />Multi-SpeCies Conservation Program; and, 3) a copy of the public notice, issued by Reclamation, <br />extending the comment period on the BO to July 25,1997. A draft of the Board's comments on the <br />BO is currently being reviewed by representatives on the California Steering Committee. <br /> <br />Also included in the Board folder is the copy of the update status report on the southwest <br />willow flycatcher and its nesting on the Colorado River Delta. Three nests bave been found, two <br />had no eggs and one had two eggs. Five additional birds have not paired as of July 3rd. With <br />regards to the Virgin River, nine nests have been found, five at the delta of the Virgin River and <br />Lake Mead, and four near Mesquite, Nevada. Some eowbird predation has been found on the Virgin. <br />River. Two nests were found at Topock Marsh. <br /> <br />The lawsuit filed by the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity (SWCBD) was heard by <br />the U. S. District Court for Arizona on May IS, 1997. The Court dismissed the case, with one <br />exception, based on the SWCBD's failure to properly file an adequate 60 day notice of intent to sue <br />with the Secretary of the Interior. The Court left open the issue to sue the Secretary of the Interior <br />on the adequacy of the BO. Following the May 15th District Court hearing, on May 22,1997, the <br />SWCBD filed a sixty day notice of intent to sue with the Secretary of the Interior concerning the <br />effects of Reclamation's operations of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead on the southwestern willow <br />flycatcher, bonytail chub, razorback sucker, and the Secretary's Biological Opinion regarding those <br />operations. In addition, on July I, 1997 the SWCBD filed a motion for Summary Judgement <br />regarding the Biological Opinion and its concerns that the Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives do <br />not eliminate "take" of the southwestern willow flycatcher. The remedy, that the SWCBD is <br />requesting, is to remand the relevant sections of the Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives and the <br />incidental take statement back to the Secretary of the Interior, to develop Reasonable and Prudent <br />Alternatives that comply with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The California Attorney <br />General's office and the agencies within California are considering the course of action they wish <br />to pursue regarding the issues that are before the Federal District Court in Arizona. <br /> <br />The Court has denied the appeal of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to extend the July 17, <br />1997, date for designation of critical habitat for the southwestern willow flycatcher. The Service <br />expects to publish a notice of its intent to designate critical habitat in the Federal Register on July 14, <br />1997. <br /> <br />WESTERN WATER PLANNING <br /> <br />Glen Canvon Dam Environmental Studies <br /> <br />In March of this year, Reclamation formally requested the Board to designate a representative <br />to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group Federal Advisory Committee <br /> <br />4 <br />