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The bald eagle uses ~any of the drainages of the Colorado River including the Uncompahgre River as wintering habitat. The eagles are generally present from November through March and can be observed along the Uncompahgre River from south of Ridgway to Delta. The Bureau of Reclama-. tion (1976) reported that bald eagles have been observed in the immediate " " project area from Colona to Ridgway on the Uncompahgre River, on Billy Creek, Cow Creek, and Pleasant Valley Creek (Figure 2). I: The Colorado Division of Wildlife inventoried the fish and wildlife resources' of the Dallas Creek Project (Colorado, 1976) and reported that the major sources of food available in the area for eagles are fish, waterfowl, ;;< ~ and dead deer. The Division also reported that "Bald eagles normally use ~ the same roosting sites every year and these were located along the Uncompahgre ~. River below Chaffee Gulch and below the Ethridge Ranch on Cow Creek (lower ~< two miles of Cow Creek). Only a few bald eagles are present in the study area. It ;--~ As indicated in the Dallas Creek Final Environmental Statement (Bureau '~ of Reclamation, 1976) the bald eagle will be affected by loss of cottonwood ," riparian woodland and 4.6 miles of river habitat to project features such as _t:; ~: Ridgway Reservoir. This will eliminate existing perches below the high water line. In the future the reservoir itself could be utilized by the eagles. ',~ ~ ~~ The Uncompahgre River do.~stream from the reservoir will remain more open in winter months because of warmer water releases and eagle hunting areas for waterfowl and fish may improve. Recreation disturbance of the eagles should be minimized because the eagle wintering season and general recreation season do not overlap significantly. B