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J~':\'. ~ Ibk,<: I, . ll11rn':J - ~~~~- ~~ -~ . .J" ..-, , , - ..------- ,""""W' " :" 'f l (a) Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge - Improve the" habitat value of 3,485 acres of lands surrounding high-value wetlands in the, northern portion of Alamosa NWR. (b) Blanca Wildlife Mana~ement Area - Maintain and improvel ~he habitat value of 410 acres of lands in the vlcinity of high-value wetlands ln the Blanca WHA. ' e. Waterfowl Production ~I '--I ~I (c) San Luis Lake - Improve the habitat value of 880 acres of lands surrounding the stabilized San Luis Lake high-value wetlands. (d) Russell Lakes - Improve the habitat value of 1,642 acres of lands surrounding the high-value wetlands at Russell Lakes Management Area. The 3,443 waterfowl production and 594 hunter-days per season which will be lost, would be replaced on Alamosa NWR and Blanca WHA with the addition of water from I the project through the replacement and improvement of wetland habitat values. ~ I U J About 2,842 ducks produced annually in the project area would' be replaced on the 4,374 acres of lands receiving the 5,300 acre-feet of water annually on Alamosa NWR. The 601 ducks and 104 hunter-days lost annually on Blanca WHA will be re- placed with the 993.5 acre-feet of water annually supplied by the project to maintain and improve the habitat value of 608 acres. f. Other Water Birds The 338,400 days of other bird use lost per season will be maintained by the re- placement and improvement of 8,460 acres of wetland habitat and 6,417 acres of vegetation adjacent to the wetlands. fIi,t 1!tl g. Mitigation of Project Caused Losses Mitigation of project caused losses is summarized in Table 9. 2. Enhancement a. General f] -r 'I J Due to the fact that the mitigation plan is designed to replace wetlands rather than waterfowl production, the implementation of the revised plan would have substantial enhancement benefits to the fish and wildlife resources of the San Luis Valley. The enhancement realized in the area is shown in Table 10 and briefly described below. The additional water and associated wetlands would increase waterfowl production I and help in the management of birds that are of high Federal interest. These bird: which are found on the Alamosa NWR and may also be found on Blanca WHA, Head and ' San Luis Lakes, and Russell Lakes, include the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, long- billed curlew, great blue heron, greater sandhill crane, whooping crane and the I Western grebe. The bald eagle, whooping crane and the peregrine falcon are also " on the Federal list of endangered species. An additional 10,962 ducks per year and 211,500 use-days per/season of other water bird use will result from I the improvement and enhancement of the habitat value of both wetlands and surrounding areas. 24