Developing a framework for native fish conservation in the upper Colorado River basin

Many native fishes in the Upper Colorado River Basin are in decline.  The endangered large-river fishes and Colorado River cutthroat trout have received the most attention, but recent efforts have focused on three declining warmwater species – flannelmouth sucker, bluehead sucker, and roundtail chub.  The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation adopted a new Keystone Initiative focused on promoting watersheds with healthy aquatic ecosystems including large, interconnected populations of Colorado River cutthroat trout and the three warmwater species in the Upper Colorado River Basin.  Using Wyoming as an example, we present a science-based process for identifying watersheds where conservation efforts should most benefit cutthroat trout and the three warmwater species.  Our analysis used a conservation planning algorithm to integrate known and predicted distributions of the target species, surrogates for conservation costs and future risks, and agency priorities to rank all watersheds for conservation.  Model-based rankings of watersheds informed discussions with state and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations to identify a final set of watersheds.  The Wyoming watersheds identified are part of a larger network of watersheds within the Upper Colorado River Basin that will serve as a strategic funding framework for NFWF’s Keystone Initiative over the next 10 years.