Creston Fish and Wildlife Center Fish Fun Fair

Fishing can be a valuable way for children to explore and learn about our environment. Connecting kids to nature through fun experiences like fishing creates an appreciation for our natural world. The Creston Fish and Wildlife Center treated 135 local 3rd graders to just such an outdoor experience. Learn more …

Northern Leopard Frog in West May Warrant Federal Protection - Comment Period Opens July 1

The Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking scientific information regarding the historical and current status and distribution of the Northern leopard frog to help determine whether the species should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Comments will be accepted until August 31, 2009. The range of the Northern leopard frog includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The northern leopard frog is now considered uncommon in a large portion of its range in the western United States, and declines of the species have been documented in most western states. The range of the western population extends into the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, southern Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and western Ontario.

Interior Secretary Salazar Recently Announced That States to Receive More than $61 Million to Help Wildlife

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recently announced that more than $61 million will be distributed to the fish and wildlife agencies of the 50 states, commonwealths, the District of Columbia, territories, to help conserve and recover imperiled fish and wildlife through the State Wildlife Grant Program. The State Wildlife Grant program (SWG) provides federal funds for the development and implementation of programs for the benefit of fish and wildlife and their habitats.

Mountain-Prairie Region Employees Jim Chandler and Wade Briggs Receive Organization Achievement Award

During a special awards ceremony held recently in Washington, DC, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar cited the safety efforts of the Service’s heavy equipment operators. Jim Chandler, the Service’s regional Safety Manger in Denver, Colorado, also received the Organization Achievement Award for his involvement in the development of a training course for the investigation of serious accidents he developed along with safety personnel from other governmental agencies.

More Than $23 Million in Federal Grants and Matching Funds going to Conservation of Neotropical Migratory Birds and Habitat

The Department of the Interior will provide more than $4.8 million in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grants for 36 projects in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries to support neotropical migratory bird conservation.

Partners will match these funds with more than $18 million that will support habitat restoration, environmental education, population monitoring, and other priority activities within the ranges of neotropical birds.

International projects include the Mountain-Prairie states of Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

ENDANGERED COLORADO RIVER FISHES ARE REOCCUPYING HISTORIC HABITAT IN THE COLORADO AND YAMPA RIVERS

Biologists conducting research studies in late April for the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program (Recovery Program) reported the captures of endangered fishes in sections of historic habitat on the Colorado and Yampa rivers where the species had not been collected for decades. A 26-inch, 2 pound, adult male Colorado pikeminnow was captured on April 22, in a 5-mile reach of the Colorado River downstream from the Grand Valley Project Diversion Dam near Grand Junction, Colo.

Until last year, upstream movement of fish into this river section had been blocked since the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam was completed in 1911. In April 2008, this last remaining barrier to fish migration in the Colorado River from Utah’s Lake Powell to the upper end of critical habitat near Rifle, Colo., was removed with the opening of a 900-foot-long fish passage.

“This Colorado pikeminnow is the first of its kind that we’ve detected in that river reach since the fish passage at the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam was constructed,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Biologist Bob Burdick. “Additional sampling this spring will help determine if other Colorado pikeminnows are occupying this reach. This Colorado pikeminnow was captured during a research study as part of the Recovery Program’s efforts to estimate population levels for the species.”

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Michael Thabault Joins the Mountain-Prairie Region as Assistant Regional Director of Ecological Services

Michael Thabault comes to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Mountain-Prairie Region as the new Assistant Regional Director for the Division of Ecological Services with high praise from environmental groups, water development communities, and from colleagues within the Service for his ability to work across party lines when dealing with difficult and controversial natural resource issues.

In his new position, Thabault will provide leadership and management of eight field offices as well as a regional office staff who oversee fish and wildlife habitat conservation programs, environmental contaminant issues, and the recovery of endangered species for the states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas

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Biologists Resume Research Studies in Colorado and Utah in Effort to Recover Endangered Fish

LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program (Recovery Program) announced today that research studies have resumed in sections of the Colorado, Duchesne, Green and Yampa rivers in the states of Colorado and Utah to help recover four species of endangered fish – the humpback chub, bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker. Biologists from the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Colorado State University, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will conduct the work.

Management of nonnative fish species is a primary goal of this year’s research work. Northern pike and smallmouth bass have been identified as two nonnative fish species that pose a significant threat to endangered and other native fishes. Northern pike and smallmouth bass are active predators that eat other fish and compete for food and space in the river. For nearly a decade, Recovery Program researchers have worked to reduce the populations of these nonnative fish species to a level where endangered and other native fishes can co-exist and thrive.

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North Dakota Firefighter Goes “Down Under” to Help Control Wildfires in Victoria, Australia

Most Februarys, Doug Downs is knee-deep in snow and ice in his hometown of Kenmare, North Dakota, where winter snowfall averages 2 to 3 feet. This year, the Western North Dakota District Fire Management Officer was thousands of miles from home in Victoria, Australia, where he led other firefighters working to control one of Australia’s fiercest wildfires which burned more than 620,000 acres.

As a sector commander, Doug supervised four to 10 crews to build and reinforce a section of fire line. He supervised the use of heavy equipment to clear a fire line and worked side-by-side with crew members wielding chainsaws to remove additional vegetation in unburned areas to contain the fire.

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