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1) Program land management ;activities shall be scheduled and conducted such <br />that the possibility of take caused by disturbance/harassment due to such activities is <br />reduced on areas managed by the F'rogram. <br />2) If least terns or piping plovE;rs nest on Program-managed habitats, cost- <br />effective measures shall be taken to control predation at those sites to improve nesting <br />success and recruitment. <br />Terms and Condition (RPM 4): <br />1) A public education prograrn shall be developed and carried out by the Program <br />in an effort to avoid or minimize human disturbance of nesting least terns and piping <br />plovers within the action area. This education program should include, but not be <br />limited to, public education (e.g., in local schools or libraries), continued use of <br />informational brochures, and posting of signs at sandpit and riverine nesting azeas, <br />where appropriate. Management of human activities at, and adjacent to, least tern <br />andlor piping plover nest sites on Program lands is part of the overall effort to educate <br />the public regarding human disturbance. <br />B. Whooping Crane <br />Bl. Amount or Extent of Incidental Take Anticipated <br />Incidental take of whooping cranes may directly or indirectly result from actions by <br />covered water-related activities or outlined in the Program for flow management and <br />habitat alteration, or during surveys conducted by the Program... The following forms <br />of incidental take of whooping cranes might occur from implementation of the <br />Program: <br />The Program's proposed restoration or protection of 10,000 acres of habitat for the <br />species will substantially mitigate the impacts of the Program and of new and <br />existing water-related activities covered by the Program on whooping crane <br />migratory roosting habitat on the central Platte River. Depending on the outcome <br />of investigations of the need for and potential benefits of island clearing and <br />leveling and other sediment augmentation measures identified in the Program,- <br />existing water-related activities may continue to interfere with the river's natural <br />hydrologic processes to some extent, potentially adversely affect whooping <br />cranes using central Platte River habitat by reducing productivity of adult <br />whooping cranes at their breeding grounds as a result of increased energy <br />expenditures during migration. Although this type of take is difficult to quantify, <br />we believe that any take woulct be low, as whooping cranes typically use the Platte <br />River for a short period of time during migration.