Identification and Implementation of Native Fish Conservation Areas in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Abstract

Freshwater fishes continue to decline at a rapid rate despite substantial conservation efforts. Native fish conservation areas (NFCAs) are a management approach emphasizing persistent native fish communities and healthy watersheds while simultaneously allowing for compatible human uses. We identified potential NFCAs in the Upper Colorado River Basin in Wyoming—focusing on Colorado River cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus), flannelmouth sucker (Catostomus latipinnis), bluehead sucker (Catostomus discobolus), and roundtail chub (Gila robusta)—through a process that combined known and modeled species distributions, spatial prioritization analysis, and stakeholder discussions. The network of potential NFCAs is intended to serve as a funding framework for a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Keystone Initiative focused on Colorado River Basin native fishes. We discuss current opportunities for and impediments to implementing the potential NFCAs we identified for the NFWF Initiative over the long term. NFCAs represent a promising approach to fisheries management that complements existing approaches by focusing on persistent native fish communities.

Acknowledgments

We thank everyone who participated in stakeholder discussions across multiple agencies and organizations. We also thank D. Miller, K. Fesenmyer, and anonymous reviewers for critical comments that improved the manuscript. The project was funded by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation agreement 2009-0076-000 and Trout Unlimited's Coldwater Conservation Fund.

Notes

^aStakeholders thought that land and water uses in these watersheds reduced the likelihood of large-scale native fish management and the watersheds were reduced in rank.

^bOnly the top two stakeholder-ranked tier III watersheds were included in the final set of potential NFCAs in the Upper Green sub-basin.

^cNot within top 25% of Zonation rankings but included after stakeholder discussions because it is the only watershed in Wyoming where the flannelmouth sucker has not hybridized with the nonnative white sucker.