AN AQUATIC SAFE HARBOR PROGRAM FOR THE UPPER ETOWAH RIVER Amanda Baxter Douglas Parsons Alison Van Lear for the The Etowah Initiative School of Law • Institute of Ecology• School of Environmental Design Spring 1999 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, ATHENS, GA 30602 706-542-3948
[email protected] 1 Contents INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................2 What is the Safe Harbor Program? ....................................................................................2 Our Manual’s Mission ......................................................................................................2 A Troubling Example ........................................................................................................2 HISTORY OF THE ETOWAH WATERSHED..................................................................4 Status of the Aquatic Fauna ...............................................................................................5 Fish fauna of the Etowah River .........................................................................................5 Etowah Darter (Etheostoma etowahae) .............................................................................5 Cherokee darter (Etheostoma scotti) .................................................................................6 THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT ................................................................................7 A. Overview .....................................................................................................................7