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Ditch Maintenance Guidance 5 . APPENDIX A DEFINITIONS Shrub vegetation - Vegetation dominated by plants which generally have more than one woody stem which measures less than two inches in diameter, These plants are typically less than 10 feet in height at maturity, put on new growth each season, and have a bushy appearance, Examples of shrubs include willow, snowberry, wild plum, and alder. Herbaceaous vegetation - Vegetation dominated by plants without woody tissue/stems, including grasses and weeds, which typically live one season or less. ~ - Section 9 of the Act prohibits the "take" (e,g" hann, harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect or attempt to engage in any such conduct) of Federally-listed wildlife species. "Harm" (i.e., "take") is further defined to include habitat modification or degradation where it kills or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns including breeding, feeding, or sheltering. "Harass" is defined by the Service as actions that create the likelihood of injury to listed species to such an extent as to significantly disrupt normal behavioral patterns which include, but are not limited to, breeding, feeding, or sheltering. . No Effect Activities - Any action that does not cause measurable or identifiable hann to the mouse or its habitat. . Not Likely to Adversely Affect Activities - Those actions which may affect; but are not likely to adversely affect a species are described as "the appropriate conclusion when effects to listed species are expected to be discountable, insignificant, or completely beneficial". Service policy further defines discountable effects as those extremely unlikely to occur. Insignificant effects are related to the size of the impact and should never reach the scale where take, as defined above, occurs, Based on best judgement, a person would not be able to meaningfully measure, detect, or evaluate insignificant effects, or expect discountable effects to occur, Unsuitable Habitat or Uninhabitable shrub patch size - In the context of ditches, the Preble's meadow jumping mouse Science Team has given recommendations to the Service as to the definition of patches of shrub habitat which are too isolated and of insufficient size to be considered suitable habitat (see Science Team White Paper. Attached), The recommendation of the Science Team is that any patch of shrub along a ditch that is 0,25 acre or less, does not exceed 110 feet on anyone side, and is greater than one mile measured linearly from a like or larger patch of suitable shrub habitat (measured along the same ditch or other connected waterway), would not constitute suitable habitat for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse (see Science Team White Paper, Attached), This definition is based upon data gathered at the U.S, Air Force Academy and Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site. The data indicates that the average minimum home range for a Preble's meadow jumping mouse is approximately 0.25 acre. The Science Team agreed that this minimum home range would represent the minimum area in which a mouse could survive for some period of time and that smaller patch sizes would be uninhabitable.