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'pV16/~:3 09:57 FAX 30J 275 2371 US FISH & WILDLIFE @002 ~. - (,,, -, 2utJ.i United States Departm~nt of the Interior FISH AND WlLDLIFE SERVICE Eco logical Services ColoraClo Field Office 755 Parfet Street, Suite 361 Lakewood, Colorado 802J 5 IN REPLY REFER TO: ES/CO: SpcList Mail Stop 65412 JM 2. Za03 Paula Stlllde . Bureau of Reclamati cin Eastem Colorado Area Office 11056 West County Road 18B Loveland, Colorado 80537-9711 Dear Ms. Stlllde; The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) received your facsimile December 13, 2002, regarding a . j:lropo.sed project for the Pueblo West Pipeline (pump Station and Diver~io~ Structure) .below Pueblo Da:I?1l11 Pueblo County, Colorado. You requested cSllnments on: th~ pqtennalunpacts ofWis proposed project to Federally endangered and threatene~ .specles that may eXlst In the project area. These ?Olllments have been prepared under the provlSlons of the Endangered Specles Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 ct. seq.). . .. . The Service has no specific J01owled"c of the project site; however, enclosed is a list of Federal .' endangered, threatened, proposed and candidate species, by county, in Colorado. The list for Pueblo County can be used as a baslS for determining species potentially present in the project area. While ot:!ler species could occur at or visit the project area, endangered or threatened species most likely to occur ll1clude;. . .Birds; Bald eagle (Haliaeerus leucocephalus), Listed Threatened Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis). Listed Threatened Whooping crane (Grus americana), Listed Endangered Mountain plover (Characlrius mOJJtanus), Proposed 'Threatened Black-footed ferret (Musrela nigripes), Listed Endangered Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), Llsted Threatened Preble's meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei'), Listed Threatened Grcenback cutthmat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki stomias), Listcd Threatened i Colorado butterfly plant (Gaua neomexicana ssp. coloradensis), Listed Threatened Mammals: Fish: Plants: The Service also is interested in the protection of species which are candidates for officiallistil1g as threatened or endal,lgered (Federal Register, Vol. 61, No. 40, Febntary 28, 1996). While these species presently ~1Ve no legal protection under the ESA, it is within the spirit of this Act to consider project lJ'npacts to potentially sensitive e<mdidate species. It is the intention ofthe Service to protect these spe~ies before hun]~n-related activities adversely inlEa<?t. their habitat ~o a.degree that they would need to be ltsted and. therefore, protected under the ESA. AadltJonaJly, we Wlsh to make you aware ofthe . presence of Federal candidates should allY be proposed or listed prior to the time that all Federal actions related to the project are completed. Tfany candidate species will be unavoidably impacted, appropriate mitigation should be proposed and discussed with this office. .