Endangered fish on upswing in Colorado River
Mary Jean Beach, 78, of Yuma, died Jan. 9, 2020, in Yuma.
Born Feb. 18, 1941, in Le Sueur, Minn., she was a construction bookkeeper.
A memorial service will be 11 a.m. Friday at Gila Mountain United Methodist Church, 12716 N. Frontage Road, with inurnment to follow at 2:30 p.m. at Sunset Vista Cemetery.
Sunset Vista Funeral Home is handling arrangements, including private cremation.
Lee Stewart Chavous, 83, died Jan. 12, 2020, at his Yuma home.
Born July 23, 1936, in Augusta, Ga., he was a sergeant first class in the U.S. Army and also a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.
A visitation will be 8 a.m. Saturday at Johnson Mortuary Chapel, with rosary at 8:30 a.m., and funeral services at 9 a.m. Burial will follow at Desert Lawn.
Charles “Bill” William Kirby, 90, of Yuma, died Jan. 18, 2020, in Yuma.
Born Sept. 13, 1929, in Wichita, Kan., he was a cattle feeder/farm management and a veteran of the U.S. Army.
A celebration of life will be 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Gila Mountain United Methodist Church, 12716 N. Frontage Road.
Johnson Mortuary handling arrangements. is
Donald D. Thompson, 86, a winter visitor from Carnduff, Saskatchewan, Canada, died Jan. 17, 2020, in Regina, SK, Canada.
Born May 15, 1933, in Carpio, N.D., he was a buyer for Kimberly Clark of Canada and veteran of the U.S. Navy.
A funeral Mass will be 11 a.m. Jan. 27 at St. Jude’s Roman Catholic Church, Carnduff, SK. A fellowship with refreshments will follow Mass at Carnduff Legion Hall. Burial will be at a later date at Sherwood Union Cemetery in Sherwood, N.D.
Redpath Funeral Home in Carnduff, SK, Canada, is handling arrangements.
Glen William Ford, 72, of Yuma, died Jan. 21, 2020, at Kindred Homes. Born March 21, 1947, in Garrett, Ind., he was a general salesman and veteran of the U.S. Navy.
Private services will be held at a later date. Cremation by Research For Life.
Desert Valley Mortuary is handling local arrangements.
Anthony Anderson Jr., 92, of Yuma, died Jan. 18, 2020, in Yuma.
Born Jan. 18, 1928, in Dupree, S.D., he was a selfemployed HVAC technician and veteran of the U.S. Navy.
Sunset Vista Funeral Home is handling arrangements, including private cremation.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — An endangered fish found in the Colorado River basin is on the upswing, federal officials said Tuesday as they proposed reclassifying the humpback chub as threatened.
The fish that gets its name from a fleshy bump behind its head is one of four endangered fish that make their home in the Colorado River and its tributaries. It was listed as such in the late 1960s as its numbers fell drastically before stabilizing more than a decade ago.
The largest population now is found at the Grand Canyon, with four, smaller wild populations upstream of Lake Powell in Utah and in Colorado canyons. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the fish is no longer at the brink of extinction and is better suited as threatened.
“I really think the science supports this decision,” said Tom Chart of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “It’s an opportunity to step back and recognize progress from a variety of these collaborative programs that have been working on ecosystem health and endangered species recovery for a long period of time.”
The humpback chub likes rocky waterways with swift currents, but it also needs warm and muddy water to spawn. Dams built on the Colorado River and its tributaries have changed the natural flow of the river, challenging the humpback chub along with non-native predators.
Small mouth bass largely are the concern in the Colorado River’s upper basin, which includes Utah and Colorado. Rainbow trout feed on the humpback chub in the lower basin.
Those working to recover the fish have removed predators when needed, altered the flow from dams to benefit the humpback goals, developed in 2002, chub and installed structures called for two core populations to allow the fish to of at least 2,100 adult move between areas. humpback chub to consider
Not everyone is convinced listing it as threatened. the fish can continue Those exist at the to thrive in the face Grand Canyon with 12,000 of climate change, drought adult fish and at a second and proposals for new location near the ColoradoUtah dams, and without significant border that’s much human intervention. smaller in size.
“All of those things taken The fish once had a together, we think that broader range, but the construction the fish management going of the Flaming forward warrants precaution, Gorge Dam in Wyoming not optimism,”
and Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona said Taylor McKinnon of border led to the Center for Biological
two other populations becoming Diversity. “This proposal is dangerously optimistic extinct. An eighth about the fish’s future.” documented population in
The notice on the proposal Dinosaur National Monument to reclassify the fish also is considered will be published in the gone. federal register Wednesday, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife marking the start of Service also is considering a public comment period. reclassifying another The action was expected after endangered fish that calls the U.S. Fish and Wildlife the Colorado River home Service said almost to threatened. Chart was two years ago that it was unsure when that proposal considering reclassifying on the razorback sucker the humpback chub. will be available for public
The last set of recovery comment.