A-LP Lite: A compromise project that fulfills the United States' trust responsibility in an environmentally responsible manner

The development of a "reasonable and prudent" alternative Animas-La Plata p roject in the Four Corners area represents an appropriate Fish and Wildlife Service consultation tinder the Endangered Species Act. The process follow ed by the Service resulted in a smaller project than originally planned. A simple Fish and Wildlife Service opinion that the project jeopardized an en dangered species: would not have satisfied the Service's obligation to help find reasonable and prudent alternatives. The scaled-down alternative proj ect was consistent with the federal responsibility to endangered species, o ther environmental laws, and native tribes.