Craig Ellsworth- BIO PAGE

Craig Ellsworth

TWG BIO SUMMARY

• (A) Craig Ellsworth (Western Area Power Administration) works as a biologist researching and implementing solutions to aid in the restoration and preservation of aquatic ecosystems in the Intermountain West. While taking undergraduate classes at Brigham Young University, he was employed by the State of Utah conducting studies and surveys for June sucker (Chasmistes liorus), Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris), and least chub (Iotichthys phlegethontis)in central Utah. He continued on at Brigham Young University for a master’s degree analyzing the effects of channelization and subsequent restoration of the Provo River in the Heber Valley on the local fish community. Following graduate school, he accepted a position at SWCA Environmental Consultants as a resource specialist for several projects including the development of the Vernal BLM Resource Management Plan, Snake River BLM Fire Plan, and the Loon Mountain Ski Resort Expansion EIS. He also assisted with several projects that were instrumental in laying the groundwork for the June Sucker Recovery Program including preparing the Program Document for the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program, the development of EAs for Federal Agency Participation in the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program and for the Property Transfer and Improvements of Red Butte Reservoir to Establish a June Sucker Refugia, and a non-native fish control feasibility study for Utah Lake. He also assisted on several other projects and planning efforts including preparing and reviewing regulatory permits and wildlife monitoring along new highway, pipeline, and transmission right-of-ways. He had the opportunity to work on several projects on the Colorado and Yampa Rivers involving humpback chub, bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow, and razorback sucker recovery. In 2004, he went to work for the U.S. Geological Service in Klamath Falls working on several Lost River sucker (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris) recovery and monitoring projects. His primary duties included managing a research project analyzing the effects of dam removal on the spawning distributions of these endangered fish in the Sprague River. In 2011, he accepted a position at Western Area Power Administration assisting with endangered fish recovery efforts in the Colorado River basin representing WAPA on the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program.

• Last Updated- 2017