The Bureau of Reclamation, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department, proposes to reapply a piscicide, known as rotenone, to a 1.7-mile segment of lower Bonita Creek to remove nonnative fish that pose a threat to five species of federally listed fish. Application of the piscicide could occur as early as this summer. Bonita Creek is situated within the BLM-administered Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area, approximately 12 miles northeast of Safford, Arizona.

In 2007, Reclamation released an Environmental Assessment to evaluate a native fish restoration project that involved the construction of a fish barrier, application of rotenone, and reintroduction of several species of federally listed fish in lower Bonita Creek. The project was implemented in late 2008. In 2009, two species of nonnative fish again were detected in lower Bonita Creek. Biologists believe the continued persistence of these nonnative fish may jeopardize the existing native fish assemblage in Bonita Creek.

Reclamation has prepared a Supplement to the 2007 EA to examine the environmental consequences of the proposed reapplication of rotenone in lower Bonita Creek. A copy of the Supplement can be obtained by calling Reclamation's Environmental Resource Management Division at (623) 773-6251, by e-mailing rkonst@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, AZ. 85306-4001or faxed to (623) 773-6481, no later than May 10, 2010. Questions may be directed to Mr. McGlothlen at (623) 773-6256.