U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, report on conservation actions undertaken in 1992, for federally listed and candidate arid- region fishes in California, Oregon, and Nevada

KEYWORDS: Nevada; California; Oregon; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Region 1; Recovery plans; consultations; endangered fishes

ABSTRACT

The Reno Field Office has prepared a draft proposal to reclassify the Pahrump poolfish (Empetrichthys latos) from endangered to threatened status and has completed draft recovery plans for the Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi), White River spinedace (Lepidomeda albivallis), Big Spring spinedace (Lepidomeda mollispinis), and Railroad Valley springfish (Crenichthys nevadae). The Cui- ui (Chasmistes cujus) recovery plan has been approved and is available for distribution. A draft conservation agreement to protect the Amargosa toad (Bufo nelsoni) and Oasis Valley speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus ssp.) near Beatty, Nevada has been prepared for signature by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Nevada Department of Wildlife. A draft wetlands restoration plan for the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was completed in October. Hearings for the Las Vegas Valley Water District's water rights applications in eastern and southern Nevada have been delayed until July 1993.

The Service has issued to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, a jeopardy biological opinion on the effects on the federally endangered Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) of the long- term operation of the Klamath Project in Klamath County, Oregon, and Siskiyou and Modoc County, California. The Sacramento Field Office (SFO) will complete a recovery plan and propose critical habitat for these two species in early 1993. A new Klamath Basin Fish and Wildlife Service Office will be opened in Klamath Falls, Oregon, as early as February 1993. The purpose of the office, which will be staffed and funded by the Service and Reclamation, will be to launch an effort to restore wetlands in the Klamath Basin for the protection of endangered species, migratory birds, and downstream anadromous fishes. Discussions of a proposed emergency listing action for four fishes endemic to the Goose Lake Basin in Lake County, Oregon, and Modoc County, California, prompted local residents to form a committee to develop a plan to recover the Goose Lake redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss ssp.), Goose Lake sucker (Catostomus occidentalis lacusanserinus), Goose Lake lamprey (Lampetra tridentata ssp.), and Goose Lake tui chub (Gila bicolor thalassina). Goose Lake desiccated completely in late September or early October this year. The Service and BLM are exploring options for transplanting the Cowhead Lake tui chub (Gila bicolor vaccaceps), a Federal category- 1 candidate species, which is in danger of extinction as a result of the continuing drought and current land management practices. For the past three years, Modoc National Forest Service biologists have salvaged Modoc suckers from drying pools and moved them upstream as the lower portions of several creeks continue to desiccate. The California Department of Fish and Game chemically treated the mainstem of Silver King Creek in Alpine County for the second year to remove any remaining introgressed Paiute cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki seleniris). SFO will revise the Paiute cutthroat trout recovery plan this year.

The Portland Field Office issued several consultations to the Vale and Burns Districts of the BLM on the effects of grazing on the Lahontan cutthroat trout this year. The Service, Nature Conservancy, and BLM continue to cooperate in funding life history, population dynamics, and habitat requirements research on the federally listed endangered Borax Lake chub (Gila boraxobius). The current population estimate is between 25,000 and 26,000 individuals. Ongoing Warner sucker (Catostomus warnerensis) research is focused on early life history and behavior, micro- habitat needs, and the effects of drought. Conservation efforts for the Summer Basin tui chub (Gila bicolor ssp). and Hutton tui chub (Gila bicolor ssp.) have been hampered by uncooperative landowners. There is some speculation that the Summer Basin tui chub now may be extinct.

RESUMEN

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