March 1988 Vol. XIII No. 3 Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Technical Bulletin Service, Washington, D.C. 20204 Help Is On the Way for Rare Fishes of the Upper Colorado River Basin Sharon Rose and John Hamill Denver Regional Office On January 21-22, 1988, the Governors of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah joined Secretary of the Interior Model and the Administrator of the Western Area Power Administration in signing a cooperative agreement to implement a recovery pro- gram for rare and endangered species of fish in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The recovery program is a milestone effort that coordinates Federal, State, and private actions to conserve the fish in a manner compatible with States' water rights allocation systems and the various interstate compacts that guide water al- location, development, and management in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The Colorado River is over 1,400 miles long, passes through two countries, and has a drainage basin of 242,000 square miles in the United States, yet it provides less water per square mile in its basin than any other major river system in the United States. Demands on this limited resource are high. The Colorado River serves 15 million people by supplying water for irrigation, hydroelectric power generation, industrial and municipal pur- poses, recreation, and fish and wildlife enhancement. The headwater streams of the Upper Colorado River originate in the Rocky and Uinta Mountains. Downstream, the main- stem river historically was characterized by silty, turbulent flows with large varia- tions in annual discharge. The native warmwater fishes adapted to this de- manding environment; however, to meet 'J. man's ever increasing demands for water, impoundments were constructed that radi- cally changed the ecological characteris- tics of the river. Some native warmwater species en- demic to the Colorado River Basin, includ- ing the Colorado squawfish (Ptycho- cheilus lucius), humpback chub (Gila cypha), bonytail chub (Gila elegans), and razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), Upper Cross Mountain Canyon on the Yampa River historically was habitat for the Colorado were unable to adjust to the modifications squawfish, humpback chub, razorback sucker, and bonytail chub. The first three can still be of their environment. Changes in stream- found in this stretch, but the bonytail's presence is unknown because the species' numbers flow and water temperature, direct loss of are so low. This section of the Yampa River may be a suitable site for restocking of these (continued on page 6) rare native fishes. ENDANGERED SPECIES TECHNICAL BULLETIN Vol. XIII No. 3 (1988) 1 Region 4—A Conservation Agreement has been established between the Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Con- servancy to protect one of the two remain- ing populations of the Endangered Ala- bama leather flower {Clematis socialis). This population is located on The Conser- vancy's Virgin's Bower Preserve in St. Clair County, Alabama. Under the terms of the agreement, the Service will assume management responsibility for the site. In the past, up to 50,000 Indiana bats {Myotis sodalis) hibernated at Long's Cave in Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. At present, however, only 2,500 to 7,000 bats remain. One reason for this serious decline is the presence of Endangered species regional staff Iowa has purchased a 13-acre site near a poorly designed gate, located at the members have reported the following St. Olaf that contains habitat for the larg- entrance, that restricts air flow and bat news: est known population of the northern wild movement into the cave. The National Region 3—With the use of a Federal monkshood {Aconitum noveboracense). Park Service plans to replace the gate grant authorized under Section 6 of the The site, with over 10,000 monkshoods, with a new angle-iron bat gate in FY Endangered Species Act, the State of will be fenced this summer. 1988 or FY 1989. Biologists from the Service's Asheville, North Carolina, Field U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service James C. Gritman, Regional Director; Office have been gathering baseline data Washington, D.C. 20240 John S. Popowski, Assistant Regional on temperature and humidity levels in the Frank Dunkle, Director Director; James M. Engel, Endangered cave. The information, which is being col- (202-343-4717) Species Specialist. Ronald E. Lambertson lected before and after gate replacement, Assistant Director for Fish Region 4, Richard 8. Russell Federal BIdg., will help the Service to better predict the and Wildiife Enhancement 75 Spring St., S.W. Atlanta, GA 30303 results of future modifications to the en- (202-343-4646) (404-331-3580); James W. Pulliam, trances of bat hibernation caves. Robert P. Smith, Acting Chief, Regional Director; Tom Olds, Assistant Division of Endangered Species and Regional Director; John I. Christian, Habitat Conservation Deputy Assistant Regional Director (703-235-2771) and acting Endangered Species Spe- Marshall P. Jones, Acting Chief, Region 6—The Peregrine Partnership, cialist. Office of fVlanagement Authority which includes the Colorado Division of (202-343-4968) Region 5. One Gateway Center, Suite 700, Wildlife, Colorado Wildlife Federation, and Clark R. Bavin, Chief, Newton Corner. MA 02158 (617-965- Denver Museum of Natural History, is Division of Law Enforcement (202-343-9242) 5100); Howard Larson, Regional Direc- planning to place up to six American per- TECHNICAL BULLETIN tor; Ralph Pisapia. Assistant Regional egrine falcon {Faico peregrlnus anatum) Michael Bender, Editor Director; Paul Nickerson, Endangered chicks in a hack box on the 23rd floor of a (703-235-2407) Species Specialist. building in downtown Denver. The high- Region 6, P.O. Box 25486, Denver Federal nse habitat is similar to that in other cities Regional Offices Center, Denver, CO 80225 (303-236- where peregrines have been successfully Region 1. Lloyd 500 BIdg., Suite 1692, 500 7920); Galen Buterbaugh, Regional hacked. The city's large populations of N.E. Multnomah St., Portland, OR Director; Robert E. Jacobsen, Assistant pigeons and starlings will be prey for the 97232 (503-231-6118); Rolf L. Wal- Regional Director; Larry Shanks, urban falcons. Similar programs have Endangered Species Specialist. lenstrom. Regionai Director; David F. been successful in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Riley, Assistant Regionai Director; Wayne S. White, Endangered Species Region 7, 1011 E. Tudor Rd., Anchorage, Salt Lake City, Utah; Albany, New York; Specialist. AK 99503 (907-786-3542); Walter O. and Baltimore, Maryland. Stieglitz, Regional Director; Rowan Region 2, P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque. NM Gould, Assistant Regional Director; 87103 (505-766-2321); Michael J. Ron Garrett, Endangered Species Spear, Regional Director; Conrad A. Specialist. The final recovery plan for the Wright Fjetland, Assistant Regional Director; fishhook cactus {Sclerocactus wrightiae) Region 8, (FWS Research and Develop- James Johnson, Endangered Species has been printed and distributed. The ment), Washington, D.C. 20240; Rich- Specialist plan calls for the establishment of two ard N. Smith. Regional Director; Bet- self-sustaining populations of 10,000 indi- Region 3, Federal BIdg., Fort Snelling, Twin tina Sparrowe (202-653-8762), Cities, MN 5511 1 (612-725-3500); Endangered Species Specialist. viduals each before the species will be considered for downlisting to Threatened U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regions status. A third such population must be Region 1; California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, American Samoa, established before the species can be Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Pacific Trust Territories. delisted. The Wright fishhook cactus, Region 2; Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Region 3: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, listed in 1979 as Endangered, is currently Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Region 4: Alabama, Arkansas, Flor- known from a limited number of small ida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Region 5; Connecticut. Delaware, District of populations in Emery and Wayne Coun- Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, ties, Utah. Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. Region 6; Colorado, The final recovery plan for the spineless Kansas, Montana. Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. Region 7: hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus triglochidi- Alaska. Region 8; Research and Development nationwide. atus var. inermis) has been printed. This En- The ENDANGERED SPECIES TECHNICAL BULLETIN is published monthly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240. (continued on page 8) ENDANGERED SPECIES TECHNICAL BULLETIN Vol. XIII No. 3 (1988) 1 Loss of Wetlands Threatens Four Plants Four species of plants in the eastern United States were identified during Feb- ruary as vulnerable to extinction because of a decline in their freshwater wetland habitat. In order to make them eligible for protection under the Endangered Species Act, Endangered or Threatened listings were proposed for the following: Mountain Sweet Pitcher Plant {Sarracenia rubra ssp. jonesii) Carnivorous plants, or plants that trap and consume insects, have long fasci- nated many people. Although the Venus flytrap {Dionaea muscipula) is the best known example, carnivorous plants take a number of other forms. Pitcher plants, for example, produce clusters of erect, trum- pet-sfiaped leaves that form roughly tubu- lar "pitchers" covered by a chordate hood. Insects are attracted to nectar secreted by glands near the pitcher orifice or to the plant's showy coloration, and some crawl or fall into the pitchers. Just inside the mouth of the pitcher tube is a very smooth surface, which offers no footholds to most insects, and below that the Interior is lined with stiff downward- # % A'i pointing hairs that further hamper escape. Those insects that cannot get away are The mountain sweet pitcher plant is an eventually digested by enzymes in the a; herbaceous perennial that grows up to 29 fluid secreted inside the pitchers.