News from the Recovery Program
Field Notes: Young Bonytail Found in Lake Powell
In March, this young bonytail was captured in Lake Powell. Catching a bonytail is always a rare event, but this time it's even more interesting because this little one is only about 5 months old and was stocked in the lake as a very small young-of-year about 2-3...
CPW Nonnative Tournaments Push Control Efforts in Right Direction
Biologists for Colorado Parks and Wildlife say two fishing tournaments are showing big rewards when it comes to helping control non-native fish in two important bodies of water. At Elkhead Reservoir east of Craig, anglers competed in the 2020 Elkhead Fishing Classic...
Red Fleet Reservoir Benefits Anglers and Endangered Fish
When Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) discovered someone had illegally put walleye in Red Fleet Reservoir in 2002, Recovery Program stakeholders knew they had problem. Walleye are top predators that consume other fish and can lay thousands of eggs. Walleye...
Larval Trigger Study Plan (LTSP) Shows Wild Razorback Sucker Recruitment
Razorback sucker was listed as an endangered species in 1991. From 1985-1992 biologists estimated there were 300-600 of these fish left in the middle Green River, the last wild population in the Upper Basin. By 1999, researchers estimated the population had declined...
The Piute Farms Waterfall; Passage Toward Reproduction
Near the interface with the San Juan River, the receding waters of Lake Powell have left in its tracks an 18-foot tall waterfall, referred to as the Piute Farms Waterfall. Since 2001, this feature has created a barrier to upstream fish movement, keeping nonnative...
Colorado Pikeminnow Recovery Plan available for public comment
After many months of effort, the draft Colorado Pikeminnow Recovery Plan is ready for review on the Fish and Wildlife Website. The plan will be open for a 60-day public comment period. Recovery Plans are non-regulatory documents that act as a guidebook towards a...
Palisade High School Fish Hatchery Students Release Endangered Razorback Sucker into the Colorado River for Third Year.
The Palisade High School Fish Hatchery team make funny fish faces after successfully releasing the student raised endangered fish into the Colorado River. Photo by Mikaela Oles U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service By Michael Gross- Upper Colorado River...
Palisade High School Fish Hatchery Project: A Student Perspective
Michael Gross, USFWS Every project, no matter the scale or the impact, takes true grit and perseverance to see through. The development of a hatchery at Palisade High School (PHS) is no exception. A dedicated group of students and teachers planned and raised money to...
Palisade High School Fish Hatchery: Students Release Endangered Fish Into Colorado River
Michael Gross, USFWS May 14, 2021- In front of an audience of over 100 cheering classmates, news media, faculty, project partners, and community members, Palisade High School (PHS) Fish Hatchery Project released their first batch of student cultured endangered...
Palisade High School Fish Hatchery Update
The Palisade High School Fish Hatchery, in partnership with Ouray National Fish Hatchery-Grand Valley Unit (Ouray NFH-GVU), filled the newly constructed on-campus recirculating aquaculture system in June 2020 with plans to bring in 250 razorback sucker mid-July. These...
Colorado High School Is Fighting To Save Razorback Suckers
Zach Fitzner - Earth.com staff writer- Palisade High School, a twenty minute drive from where I live in Colorado, has something unusual – a fish hatchery. When I read about this, I had to visit the school to see for myself. Razorback suckers (Xyrauchen texanus), the...
Building Bridges Across Generations. Collaborative Solutions Through Community Conversations. The Palisade High School Partnership
Colorado State University Office of Engagement and Alpine Bank- David Miller of Alpine bank still treasures the values he learned as a 4-H participant growing up in New York. It’s those values, he says, that fueled his commitment to help develop an innovative high...
Students release razorback suckers into Colorado River
NBC11 Grand Junction, Colorado Palisade , Colorado (KKCO) - Students from Palisade High School’s Fish Hatchery Program released 250 razorback sucker fish into the Colorado River at Riverbend Park, which they’ve raised since last fall. Razorback suckers were once on...
Endangered Razorback Sucker Fish Released In Colorado River, With Kisses Goodbye From Students
CBS4 Denver PALISADE, Colorado Think of the bottom feeder sucker fish in a tank, lips suctioned to the glass, cleaning an aquarium nonstop. Now make that fish 3 to 4 feet long, possibly 30+ pounds, and witing for a big kiss and you have the razorback sucker.
Learning to love the river
Editorial - Grand Junction Sentinel May 11, 2022 Last Wednesday, students from Palisade High School released about 250 razorback suckers into the Colorado River to bolster that population of endangered fish. It was made possible through a unique program the entire...
A waterfall could soon form on the Colorado River as Lake Powell drops
Zach Podomore, Salt Lake Tribune- A waterfall could soon form on the Colorado River as Lake Powell drops. A potential barrier to rafters, would a waterfall benefit endangered fish? An existing waterfall on the San Juan River provides some hints. Piute Farms Waterfall-...
Palisade High School Endangered Fish Hatchery students interviewed on the KAFM “Going Green” podcast
Michael Gross, Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program April 5, 2022- Student fish culturists Charlotte Allen, Kale Potter, Kyle Roten and John Hoppe and science teacher/hatchery manager Pat Steele from the Palisade High School Endangered Fish Hatchery...
Palisade High School Fish Hatchery Project: A Student Perspective
Michael Gross, USFWS Every project, no matter the scale or the impact, takes true grit and perseverance to see through. The development of a hatchery at Palisade High School (PHS) is no exception. A dedicated group of students and teachers planned and raised money to...
Managed Wetlands Provide Nursery Habitat for Rare Native Fish
Tildon Jones, Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery ProgramFebruary, 2020 Over the last decade, floodplain wetlands have become an essential part of endangered species management. It has long been suspected that warm, food-rich floodplain wetlands were key to...
Partners Collaborate to Provide Water for People and Fish
Donald Anderson, Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery ProgramFebruary, 2020 Numerous water interests on Colorado’s West Slope collaborate with the Upper Colorado Program to augment streamflows for endangered fish. Every irrigation season, weekly calls are...