LAKEWOOD, Colo. - The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program (Recovery Program) held a dedication ceremony today at the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam on the Colorado River near Grand Junction, Colo. The dedication celebrated the recent completion of a fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.
Learn more about fish passage at this facility ? the last remaining barrier to fish migration on the Colorado River from Utah's Lake Powell to the upper end of critical habitat near Rifle, Colo. ? as well as completion of other capital projects in western Colorado to improve habitat for endangered fish.
Other projects include fish passages and screens at three privately owned diversion dams; a hatchery dedicated to raising and stocking endangered fish; canal check structures that help conserve water; a barrier net at a local reservoir that provides sport fishing opportunities; and 2,700 acres of restored floodplain habitat in the Upper Colorado River Basin.
"Today, we celebrate the completion of capital projects in Colorado's Grand Valley to benefit endangered fish," said Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett. "These projects are a result of the collaboration, cooperation, and hard work of Recovery Program partners and the community to ensure that endangered species conservation and water development and management can co-exist.?
Recovery Program partners include the States of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; National Park Service; Bureau of Reclamation; Western Area Power Administration; Colorado River Energy Distributors Association; and water development interests, and environmental organizations. The program received a Department of the Interior Cooperative Conservation Award on April 21, 2008.
The Recovery Program continues to manage fish habitat, work to reduce the threat of nonnative fish species while maintaining sportfishing opportunities, produce genetically diverse fish in hatcheries and stock them in the river system, and monitor and collect data on the endangered fish to measure progress toward achieving recovery goals. The Recovery Programs? efforts will help ensure that the endangered fishes remain an important part of the West's heritage.
For more information, call 303-969-7322, ext. 227 or visit the Recovery Program's website: coloradoriverrecovery.fws.gov">.
-30-" Shruti
