2016-02-03_PERMIT FILE - C1981038 (6)

Home Browse Search

J. E. Stover & Associates, Inc December 1, 2015 Page 4 vegetation. The steep hills in the majority of the mine permit area support Gambel oak mixed montane shrublands interspersed with pinyon juniper woodlands. The northwest part of the permit boundary area features isolated stands of aspen interspersed with mixed montane shrublands and a few isolated conifer (Douglas -fir) stringers. A few small irrigated meadows and patches of sagebrush shrublands are also present in the high country, as well as several springs, ponds, and seasonal drainages. Stretches of East Roatcap Creek and Stevens Gulch and their narrow riparian corridors traverse the mine permit area from north to south (Figures 2 and 3). The mine permit area lies mostly within the West Roatcap Creek and City of Paonia-North Fork Gunnison River hydrologic units (Figure 3). Small areas in the north and east parts of the permit area drain to Terror Creek (Figure 3). Impact Evaluations The following is an impact evaluation for five species potentially occurring within or near the mine permit boundary (western yellow -billed cuckoo, Canada lynx, northern river otter, greenback cutthroat trout, and boreal toad) and four endangered fish species whose downstream critical habitat is affected by water depletions in the North Fork River drainage (bonytail, humpback chub, razorback sucker, and Colorado pikeminnow). Other species listed in Table 1 but not evaluated here (Colorado hookless cactus and kit fox) were eliminated based on lack of suitable habitat within the mine permit boundary or because their known ranges are documented to lie well outside the mine boundary or its immediate vicinity. Yellow -billed Cuckoo The western yellow -billed cuckoo was listed as threatened on October 3, 2014 at Federal Register 79:59992-600038), after a several years as a candidate for listing. The yellow -billed cuckoo is a migratory songbird that breeds in the United States and winters in South America. The preferred breeding habitat of the yellow -billed cuckoo is low elevation old-growth cottonwood forests or woodlands with dense, scrubby understories of willows or other riparian shrubs.', 10,11 Studies in California indicate this species may need extensive stands of riparian forest for nesting success. 13 Probably never common in western Colorado, 12 this bird is considered an extremely rare summer resident and nearly extirpated in western Colorado.3,13 Formal surveys for cuckoos conducted during the summers of 2008 and 2011 detected cuckoos in and near the North Fork River corridor near the Towns of Paonia and Hotchkiss, with one confirmed breeding record in Hotchkiss near the confluence of the North Fork and Leroux Creek, adjacent to the old Hotchkiss sewage lagoon and its relatively noisy pumphouse.14 15 One non -breeding record was from a cottonwood stand near the intersection of Black Bridge and Grange Roads in Paonia, close to the mine permit boundary. An 10 Hughes, J. M. 1999. Yellow -billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). In The Birds of North America, No. 418 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and the American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. 11 Halterman, M. et al. 2001. A natural history summary and survey protocol for the western yellow -billed cuckoo population. DRAFT. May. 12 Bailey, A. M. and R. J. Niedrach. 1965. Birds of Colorado, Volumes I & ll. Denver: Denver Museum of Natural History. 13 Righter, R., R. Levad, C. Dexter, and K. Potter. 2004. Birds of Western Colorado Plateau and Mesa Country. Grand Junction: Grand Valley Audubon Society. 214 pp. 14 Beason, Jason. 2012. Yellow -billed Cuckoos in Western Colorado. Colorado Birds: Vol. 46 No. 3. pp. 181-187. 1s Beason, Jason (Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory). 2015. Personal communication with D. Reeder (Rare Earth). Various dates. RARE EARTH SCIENCE, LLC