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Platte River Basin

The Platte River Basin has two principal sub-basins: The North Platte River and its tributaries are used almost exclusively for agriculture in rural north-central Colorado and southern and central Wyoming, while the South Platte River provides most of the water for the urban population of Colorado’s Front Range and also supports extensive agriculture in northeastern Colorado. The native water supply in the South Platte basin is substantially augmented with water diverted from the Upper Colorado basin.

Map of the HUC 6 watershed sub-basins in the Platte River basin that were used in this analysis. Click on the polygons to obtain information about listed species by taxa in each HUC 6 watershed (as of 23 January 2025). Or click here to open the map online.

The following is a table of the listed species and critical habitats found in the Platte River Basin. Click on the blocks below to obtain more detailed information about the listed species and critical habitats in each HUC 6 (as of 23 January 2025).

Amphibians

Wyoming toad

​Photo credit: Wyoming Toad, Ryan Moehring, USFWS 

  1. Wyoming Toad (Anaxyrus baxteri) (E)

Conifers and Cyads

Whitebark pine

Photo credit: Jen Hooke, NPS​

   1. Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis) (T) 

Flowering Plants

Western Prairie Fringed Orchid
  1. Blowout Penstemon (Penstemon haydenii) (E) 

  2. Desert Yellowhead (Yermo xanthocephalus) (T) (CH)

  3. North Park Phacelia (Phacelia formosula) (E) 

  4. Penland Alpine Fen Mustard (Eutrema penlandii) (T) 

  5. Ute Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis) (T) 

  6. Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) (T) 

Mammals

Wolverine
  1. Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) (EXPN and E)

  2. Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis) (T) (ECOS) 

  3. Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) (EXPN) 

  4. Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) (T) (proposed CH - but never finalized - no overlap with any project locations)

  5. North American Wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus) (T)

  6. Northern Long-eared Bat (Myotis septentrionalis) (E) 

  7. Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei) (T) (CH)

  8. Tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus) (Proposed E) 

Birds

White pelicans
  1. Eastern Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis spp. jamaicensis) (T) 

  2. Lesser Prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) (T) 

  3. Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) (T) (CH)

  4. Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) (T) 

  5. Whooping Crane (Grus americana) (E)  (CH)

  6. Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) (T)  

Fishes

Pallid sturgeon
  1. Bonytail (Gila elegans) (E)  

  2. Colorado Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius) (E) 

  3. Greenback Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii stomias) (T) 

  4. Humpback Chub (Gila cypha) (T) 

  5. Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) (E) 

  6. Razorback Sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) (E) 

Insects

American Burying Beetle AI photo
  1. American Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) (T) 

  2. Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) (C) 

  3. Pawnee Montana Skipper (Hesperia leonardus montana) (T)  (proposed CH)

  4. Salt Creek Tiger Beetle (Cicindela nevadica lincolniana) (E) (CH)

  5. Uncompahgre Fritillary Butterfly (Boloria acrocnema) (E) 

  6. Western Regal Fritillary (Speyeria idalia) (Proposed T) 

Lead USFWS Offices in the Platte River Basin

Colorado Ecological Services Field Office

1 Denver Federal Center Bldg 25, Room W1911
Denver, CO 80225-001
(303) 236-4773
​

ColoradoES@fws.gov

​

Wyoming Ecological Services Field Office

334 Parsley Boulevard

Cheyenne, WY 82007-4178

(307) 772-2374

WyomingES@fws.gov

​​

Nebraska Ecological Services Field Office

9325 South Alda Road, Suite B​

Wood River, NE 68883-9565

(308) 382-6468

nebraskaes@fws.gov

© 2024 Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

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