GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A tiny minnow that lives only in Oregon backwaters is set to become the first fish ever taken off U.S. Endangered Species Act protection because it is no longer threatened with extinction. 
 
 This Jan. 16, 2014 photo provided by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife shows an Oregon chub at the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge near Corvallis, Ore. The tiny fish found only in... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - An Oregon State Fish biologist pulls a hand full of Oregon Chub from the waters of a pond near Dexter, Oregon as part of a research project in this April 2008 file photo. The tiny fish found only... (Associated Press) 
 
 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that it was proposing that the Oregon chub was recovered, 21 years after it went on the endangered species list. The proposal will go through a 60-day public comment period before becoming final. The agency will monitor the fish for nine years to make sure populations continue to grow. 
 
 "We're not saying it won't need management," Paul Henson, Oregon director of Fish and Wildlife, said in an interview. "But they can leave the hospital and get out to be an outpatient." 
 
 Robyn Thorson, northwest regional director of Fish and Wildlife, made the announcement at a 92-acre property along the McKenzie River outside Springfield. The property is owned by the McKenzie River Trust that combines a working farm with habitat protection and restoration. 
 
 The fish had practically disappeared from Oregon's Willamette Valley as the swampy backwaters and beaver ponds it depends on were drained to control flooding and create farms and cities over the past century and a half. Those that survived the habitat loss became easy prey for bass introduced from the East. 
 
 Unlike Pacific salmon, the Oregon chub was relatively easy to save because it inhabits small places and does not get in the way of huge economic forces, such as logging, hydroelectric power and farming, said Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Brian Bangs, who since 2005 has supervised recovery efforts. 
 
 Joe Moll, executive director of the McKenzie River Trust, said the chub's obscurity made it easier to find solutions because there were none of the high stakes and big egos involved in charismatic species like wolves, grizzly bears and salmon. 
 
 "We are better able to look at something that you can put in the hand of a little kid, and just reflects joy with the natural world," he said. "The recovery of the Oregon chub is a sign the river is still alive. It still has the processes that things like chub and chinook salmon juveniles evolved with." 
 
 The Oregon chub is a small minnow, typically about 3 inches long, with an olive-green back, silvery sides and large scales. 
 
 They were not described scientifically until the early 1900s, when a researcher found some outside Portland in the Clackamas River drainage, Bangs said. It was the 1970s before anyone really started paying attention. 
 
 Before European settlement, the Willamette Valley was a complex system of braided river channels, oxbows and beaver ponds, where perhaps as many as 1 million Oregon chub lived, Bangs said. By 1992, there were only 1,000 fish known in eight locations. Today, there are 180,000 fish at 80 locations. The fish was upgraded to threatened in 2010. 
 
 The recovery plan focused on establishing partnerships with landowners to restore key habitats, breeding and transplanting fish to those places, and getting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to alter dam releases to more closely resemble natural river flows. Private landowners who agreed to have chubs introduced on their property and to follow some guidelines were given safe harbor agreements guaranteeing the presence of the endangered fish would not interfere with their use of the land. 
 
 "We managed to figure out a way to provide for the habitat of the chub in some subset of its range in the Willamette Valley in a way that was economically compatible with landowners, agriculture and other commodity-type development," said Henson of Fish and Wildlife. "Twenty years might seem like a long time (to get it off the endangered list). On the other hand, if you think of the 150 years of habitat modification that went on before, it is pretty darn quick." 
 
 Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber issued statements crediting partnerships between agencies and private landowners for the chub's recovery. 
 
 Along with chub, a variety of protected species moved into those restored habitats, including salmon, Western pond turtles and red-legged frogs, Bangs said. ||||| The US Fish and Wildlife Service yesterday proposed that the Oregon chub, a small minnow native to Oregon's Willamette Valley, be removed from the endangered species list created by the 1973 US Endangered Species Act. If the chub is removed, it will be the first fish to be delisted because of its population recovery since the list was created. 
 
 The Oregon chub was placed on the endangered species in 1993 after the loss of floodplain habitats and predation by non-native fish. At the time, fewer than eight populations of Oregon chub existed, with fewer than 1,000 fish. A recovery plan to boost chub numbers was finalized in 1998, and thanks to the success of methods such as habitat restoration, education, and careful monitoring, the species was reclassified as "threatened" in 2010. Oregon chub numbers now exceed 150,000, in 80 different habitats around the Willamette area. 
 
 Oregon chub numbers now exceed 150,000, across 80 different sites 
 
 If the Oregon chub is removed from the US endangered species list, it will join 26 animals, including the Steller sea lion and Gray wolf, that have had their populations re-grow following their classification as endangered. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is currently considering whether to remove the North Pacific humpback whale from the list of more than 2,000 plants and animal species currently considered endangered in the US and abroad. ||||| External Affairs staff in the Mountain-Prairie Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides support to the regional office and field stations to communicate and facilitate information about the Service's programs to the public, media, Congress, Tribes, partners, and other stakeholders in the 8-state region. 
 
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 The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Fish and Aquatic Conservation Program in the Mountain-Prairie Region helps conserve, protect, and enhance aquatic resources and provides economically valuable recreational fishing to anglers across the country. The program comprises 12 National Fish Hatcheries. 
 
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 While national wildlife refuges were created to protect wildlife, they are for people too. Refuges are ideal places for people of all ages to explore and connect with the natural world. We invite you to learn more about and visit the national wildlife refuges and wetland management districts in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. 
 
 Created in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, today's National Wildlife Refuge System protects habitats and wildlife across the country, from the Alaskan tundra to subtropical wetlands. Managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Refuge System's 560-plus refuges cover more than 150 million acres and protect nearly 1,400 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. 
 
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 News Release 
 
 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Delisting Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Due To Recovery 
 
 Decades of Conservation Lead to Endangered Species Act Success; Service also releases recovery plan supplement and conservation strategy to ensure population continues to thrive 
 
 For Immediate Release 
 
 March 3, 2016 
 
 
 
 Grizzly bears. Credit: USFWS / Ture Schultz, National Elk Refuge volunteer 
 
 LAKEWOOD, Colo. – In response to the successful recovery of one of the nation’s most iconic animals, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) today proposed to remove the grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem from the Federal Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. 
 
 The restoration of the grizzly bear in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho during the last three decades stands as one of America’s great conservation successes—a testament to the value of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the strong partnerships it drives. The Yellowstone grizzly bear population has rebounded from as few as 136 bears in 1975 to an estimated 700 or more today. 
 
 “The recovery of the Yellowstone grizzly bear represents a historic success for partnership-driven wildlife conservation under the Endangered Species Act,” said Service Director Dan Ashe. “Our proposal today underscores and celebrates more than 30 years of collaboration with our trusted federal, state and tribal partners to address the unique habitat challenges of grizzlies. The final post-delisting management plans by these partners will ensure healthy grizzly populations persist across the Yellowstone ecosystem long into the future.” 
 
 To ensure robust monitoring of Yellowstone grizzly bears, balanced management and effective conservation going forward, the Service is also releasing two other documents for public comment, a draft supplement to the 1993 Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan for the Yellowstone grizzly bear population, and a draft conservation strategy. These detail how both grizzly bears and their habitat will be managed in a post-delisting environment. 
 
 “Even with this proposed delisting, the Service remains committed to the conservation of the Yellowstone grizzly bear, and will stay engaged to ensure that this incredible species remains recovered,” Ashe said. “We will continue to be part of a strong monitoring program, implementation of the conservation strategy, and partnership with our state and federal partners. We are look forward to hearing from the public about the proposal and consulting with Native American tribes.” 
 
 Population and habitat monitoring efforts undertaken by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee Study Team indicate that grizzly bears have more than doubled their range since the mid-1970s. They now occupy more than 22,500 square miles of the Yellowstone ecosystem, an area larger than the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island combined. Stable population numbers for grizzlies for more than a decade also indicate that the Yellowstone ecosystem is at or near its carrying capacity for the bears. 
 
 Determining recovery is based on more than just the number of bears in the ecosystem. It includes the quantity and quality of habitat, adequate regulatory mechanisms to maintain a healthy and viable population, and a good balance of male and female bears that are well-distributed throughout the ecosystem. 
 
 The proposed rule, and the supporting documents, will publish in a couple days in the Federal Register. The Service will be seeking review and comment by the public, other federal and state agencies, and independent scientists. Comments will be accepted for 60-days after publication. You can submit electronically at http://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter Docket Number FWS–R6–ES–2016–0042, and then click on the “Comment Now!” button. 
 
 Comments will also be accepted via U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R6–ES–2016–0042, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, MS: BPHC, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803. Please note that submissions merely supporting or opposing a potential delisting, without supporting documentation, will not be considered in making a determination. 
 
 The Service will post all information received on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any personal information that is provided. To view the complete Federal Register notice that publishes, visit http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/grizzlyBear.php. 
 
 The ESA is an essential tool for conserving the nation’s most at-risk wildlife, as well as the land and water on which they depend for habitat. The ESA has saved more than 99 percent of the species listed from the brink of extinction and has served as the critical safety net for wildlife that Congress intended when it passed the law 40 years ago. The Obama Administration has delisted more species due to recovery than any prior administration, including the Oregon Chub, Virginia northern flying squirrel and brown pelican. 
 
 The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals, and commitment to public service. 
 
 For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/. Connect with our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/USFWSMountainPrairie, follow our tweets at http://twitter.com/USFWSMtnPrairie, watch our YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/usfws and download photos from our Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmtnprairie/. 
 
 – FWS –
– It's only about 3 inches long, but the Oregon chub is about to achieve a first among fish: It's coming off the endangered species list, reports Popular Science. The Fish and Wildlife Service announced the move yesterday, though it won't become official until after a 60-day period for public comment. That's largely a formality, however. The minnow went on the list about 20 years ago, when only about 1,000 existed in eight locations in Oregon. Today, the population is at 180,000 in 80 locations throughout the state. "We're not saying it won't need management," says a Fish and Wildlife official. "But they can leave the hospital and get out to be an outpatient." The fact that the chub is so small contributed to the success story, reports the AP. Wildlife officials could find small places throughout the Willamette Valley to re-introduce it, unlike the larger-scale methods needed to protect, say, salmon. When the fish comes off the list, it will join 26 others animals that have done so, including the gray wolf, notes the Verge.