The Bureau of Reclamation and Bureau of Land Management have issued a draft Environmental Assessment to solicit public comments on the potential environmental effects of a proposed fish barrier in Hot Springs Canyon. The canyon is located within the Hot Springs Area of Critical Environmental Concern, part of the 57,500-acre Muleshoe Ranch Cooperative Management Area located in Cochise County, Arizona. The proposed fish barrier is intended to prevent the upstream invasion of nonnative fishes into portions of Hot Springs Canyon occupied by threatened and endangered fish species.

The draft EA can be obtained by calling Reclamation's Environmental Resource Management Division at (623) 773-6251, by e-mailing rkonst@lc.usbr.gov , or by downloading it from the Phoenix Area Office website at http://www.usbr.gov/lc/phoenix/

Comments should be mailed to John McGlothlen at the Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office, PXAO-1500, 6150 West Thunderbird Rd., Glendale, Ariz. 85306-4001 or faxed to (623) 773-6481, no later than December 8 2008. Questions may be directed to Mr. McGlothlen at (623) 773-6256.