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..~ f''' n 2,b ~J~) Table 3.3 Threatened, Endangered, and Candidate Species with Potential to be Found in the Project Action Area. . Common Name Scientific Name Status Black-footed ferret Mustela nigripes Endangered Canada lynx Lynx Canadensis Threatened Black-tailed prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus Candidate Greenback cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki stomias Threatened Arkansas darter Etheostoma cragini Candidate Bald eagle Haliaeetu!i leucocephalus Threatened Whoonim> crane GrusiAmericana Endangered Mexican spotted owl Strix occidentalis lucida Threatened Mountain plover Charadrius montanus . Threatened Gunnison sage grouse Centrocercus minimus Candidate . Boreal toad Bufo bpreas boreas . Candidate Slender moonwort Botryohium lineare Candidate .. Potential Impacts The list of species prepared by the Service for this project includes species distributed throughout the action area. As indicated previously in the Hydrology section of this chapter, no net change in the flows of the Arkansas River or the storage/water level of Pueblo Reservoir is expected under either of these alternatives. Consequently, there is no potential to have an impact on those species strictly associated with the reach of the Arkansas River under ~nalysis or Pueblo Reservoir. Therefore, the no action and the Construction Alternative are anticipated to have no effect on the following species or. critical habitat: boreal toad, slender moon wort, Canada lynx, greenback cutthroat trout, Arkansas . darter, bald eagle, whooping crane or the Mexican spotted owl. The area where ground disturbing activities will occuds the only portion of the area where there is potential to impact any of the identified species. The qnly species from the list with potential for habitat in the area are the black-footed ferret, the blac~-tailed prairie dog and the mountain plover. A description of their habitat follows: Black-Footed Ferret Historically, black-footed ferrets had similar habitats and ranges to prairie dogs throughout Colorado. They were found in habitats ranging from shortgrass and midgrass prairie to semidesert shrublands (Fit:z;gerald et al. 1994).. Black-footed ferrets depend on prairie dog colonies as a source of food and shelter and oqen use the burrows as nesting dens (Fitzgerald et al. 1994). Changes in land use practices an4 prairie dog conq.ol programs over the last century have reduced prairie dog distribution substantially in the western United States. 16