USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

   

Current Status:

Impoundments pose a potential threat to this fish by isolating population segments and altering flow and other habitat characteristics. Commercial dredging for river gravel removes riffle habitat and may destroy madtoms directly as well. Pollution from feedlots and agricultural runoff, municipal and industrial sewage effluent, accidental spills at bridge crossings, the Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station, and the Cherokee County Superfund Site cleanup operations also pose a threat.

Achievements:

Results of a habitat and distribution study should quantify microhabitat preferences and population densities in four selected river reaches within the madtom's range. Oklahoma State University conducted a survey of the State's Neosho River, resulting in two additional site records within the species' known range. Section 7 consultations with the Federal Highway Administration regarding highway bridge construction over the Neosho River produced a design plan that avoided impacts to the madtom. The Fish and Wildlife Service also consulted with the Soil Conservation Service on tributary watershed dam construction within the Cottonwood River Basin. Design changes and a monitoring study were implemented to determine what effect, if any, to expect, and how best to offset any adverse effects.

Current Recovery Needs:

Determining population size and mobility; assessing the degree of competition with other species, especially with the slender madtom (Noturus exilis); and protecting minimum streamflows in the Neosho, Cottonwood, and Spring Rivers are priorities.

Section 6 Funding and Activities:

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks received $40,000 in FY 1992 for two Neosho madtom projects, one to study inter-riffle movements and the other to survey the Spring River to determine the effects of pollution on the species.

Partnerships

Soil Conservation Service, Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Highway Administration: Responsible for proper streamflows and habitat protection, these agencies are beginning programs for the madtom. The Federal Highway Administration is working with the Fish and Wildlife Service through the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks: The Department has a moratorium on issuing State permits for commercial gravel removal in Neosho madtom habitat. It is studying the effectiveness of constructing artificial riffles in madtom streams to determine the potential for mitigation when a project makes riffle degradation unavoidable.

Recovery Plan Status:

Plan approved 9/30/91.