The June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program (JSRIP) is a multiagency and special interest recovery program that was organized in 2002 to recover the June sucker (Chasmistes liorus). The accomplishments and success of the program are due to the collaboration and teamwork of program partners and their dedication to the goals laid out in the beginning. Continued progress has allowed the June sucker to be reclassified from “endangered” to “threatened” (2021) and paving the way forward for hopefully eventual delisting. One of the largest success stories has been the augmentation to the wild population by hatchery-reared fish. This has allowed the population found in Utah Lake to go from <1,000 estimated individuals in 1997 to an estimated 30,000–50,000 in 2021. The largest impediment to the future of delisting is having a self-sustaining population with quantifiable natural recruitment. In 2021, JSRIP completed an analysis of pectoral fin ray sections of unmarked “wild” June sucker captured in Utah Lake. To overcome the recruitment bottleneck in the recovery process, the JSRIP and partners are in the final stages of completing the Provo River Delta Restoration Project. This ∼265-acre delta restoration will provide nursery and brood-rearing habitats for larvae June sucker. The delta restoration project is based on the Hobble Creek Wildlife Management Area restoration project (21 acres) which was completed in 2016. Based on initial indications from the fin ray study, this is where natural recruitment has been successful. The delta will become operable in February 2023, with final completion in spring/summer 2024.

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