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Federally- Listed Endangered and Threatened Species <br />The USFWS has identified the following federally - listed species as potentially occurring <br />within the TRSWA (Logan County) and PESWA ( Sedgwick County): <br />Bald eagle Threatened <br />Mountain plover Proposed Threatened <br />Eskimo curlew Endangered, probably <br />extinct <br />Current information indicates that occasional wintering bald eagles are probably the only <br />terrestrial federally - listed species in the above group that inhabit either SWA. Associated <br />primarily with migratory waterfowl resting areas, they are common along the South Platte <br />River and adjacent plains reservoirs during winter. The presence of a prey base and <br />availability of mature cottonwood trees for perching and roosting seem to be the major <br />factors affecting distribution. The presence of twenty to thirty bald eagles is not uncommon <br />at many of the reservoirs during the waterfowl migration period. Along the South Platte, <br />singles or pairs are normally observed. Eagles apparently have an attraction to particular <br />trees and routinely are observed at the same perch. <br />Mountain plovers evolved on grasslands and breeding, nesting, and wintering areas are <br />characterized by short vegetation, bare ground, flat topography, often with manure piles or <br />rocks nearby. They are usually associated with prairie sites disturbed by grazing and <br />digging mammals rather than pristine prairie landscapes. Mountain plovers are rarely <br />near water. In Colorado, the Pawnee National Grasslands and the.southeast area of the <br />state are important breeding areas. The 1998 Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas indicates that <br />mountain plovers do not breed in the vicinity of either SWA. <br />The Eskimo curlew has only been sighted approximately 50 times in the past 70 years <br />nationwide; none of these occurred in Colorado. The species is considered b <br />to be extinct. <br />y some experts <br />Although the whooping crane (endangered), piping plover (threatened), and interior least <br />tern (endangered) are not identified as potentially occurring in either Logan or Sedgwick <br />Counties, if proposed work in Colorado were to result in a depletion to the South Platte <br />River that might affect these species in the neighboring state of Nebraska. <br />RECREATION <br />Both SWAs are managed to provide wildlife - related recreation. Hunting, fishing, and <br />wildlife observation are the main uses of the properties. During the fall and winter, hunting <br />10 <br />