Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology & Committee on Endangered and Threatened Species in the Platte River Basin 
Endangered and Threatened Species of the Platte River [PDF ebook] 

The tension between wildlife protection under the Endangered Species Act andwater management in the Platte River Basin has existed for more than 25 years. The Platte River provides important habitat for migratory and breeding birds, includingthree endangered or threatened species: the whooping crane, the northern Great Plains population of the piping plover, and the interior least tern. The leading factorsattributed to the decline of the cranes are historical overhunting and widespreadhabitat destruction and, for the plovers and terns, human interference duringnesting and the loss of riverine nesting sites in open sandy areas that have beenreplaced with woodlands, sand and gravel mines, housing, and roadways. Extensivedamming has disrupted passage of the endangered pallid sturgeon and resulted inless suitable habitat conditions such as cooler stream flows, less turbid waters, andinconsistent flow regimes. Commercial harvesting, now illegal, also contributed tothe decline of the sturgeon. Endangered and Threatened Species of the Platte River addresses the habitat requirementsfor these federally protected species. The book further examines the scientificaspects of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s instream-flow recommendations andhabitat suitability guidelines and assesses the science concerning the connectionsamong the physical systems of the river as they relate to species’ habitats.