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

Home Browse Search

J. E. Stover & Associates, Inc December 1, 2015 Page 7 denning period and may move kittens in response to disturbance, thereby increasing the chances of mortality. 19 Within the Bowie No. 1 permit boundary, preferred denning and foraging habitats are lacking. Mature or old growth stands of lodgepole pine and spruce -fir (preferred denning habitats) and early- seral stage stands (foraging habitats) are not supported. The small portion of the permit area mapped by CDOW as potential lynx habitat (Figure 5) consists primarily of aspen forest or woodland with less than 30 percent conifers. Due to lack of preferred denning and foraging habitat, use of the mine permit area by lynx is expected to be limited to occasional transitory individuals. Continued activities under the Bowie No. 1 mine permit would not result in any losses of preferred habitat or in the fragmentation of blocks of suitable habitat for lynx. Lynx are not expected to move into mine permit boundary from reintroduction sites in the foreseeable future. Therefore, relative risks to individual lynx are predicted to be very low. The relative risk to lynx population recovery in LAUs and wilderness areas north of the permit area due to continuing activities under the Bowie No. 1 Mine permit is also predicted to be very low. River Otter The northern river otter, listed as endangered in 1975 and down -listed to threatened in 2003 under the Colorado Nongame, Threatened, or Endangered Species Conservation Act, 20 may occupy the reach of the North Fork River near the old mine load -out area and at the railway bridge crossing (Figure 5). The river otter historically occupied every major river drainage in Colorado, but was presumed extirpated from the state by the early 1900s as a result of unregulated fur trapping. Beginning in 1976, the CPW began re -introducing river otters into several river systems around the state, including the Gunnison, with apparent success. River otters have been sighted in the North Fork of the Gunnison River corridor approximately 8 miles downstream of the old mine load -out area within the past decade (Reeder, personal observation). CPW maps the North Fork River corridor in the vicinity of the mine permit boundary as overall range and winter range for river otter (Figure 5). Currently, there are no breeding records of otters in the North Fork River. A breeding pair of river otters requires approximately 1.5 to 8 miles of stream or shoreline depending on prey resources, and stream flow of at least 50 cfs.20 Other requirements are food resources (fish, small mammals), good water quality, riparian vegetation providing at least 50 percent cover along banks, and other cover in or along streams such as woody debris or boulders. 20 Bank stability and maintenance of floodplain structure provide opportunities for denning. The river corridor within and near the mine load -out area provides adequate feeding habitat for river otter especially during winter months, and may provide a suitable denning site for a single pair, although more secluded denning sites would be available upstream or downstream of the mine permit boundary where the forested riparian corridor is much wider. Average late summer flows in the North Fork River may drop consistently below 50 cfs in some reaches, which could be a limiting factor in its suitability for breeding or feeding habitat. 19 Koehler, G. M. and K.B. Aubry. 1994. The scientific basis for conserving forest carnivores: American marten, fisher, lynx, and wolverine in the western United States. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. General Tech. Report RM 254. 184pp. 20 Boyle, S. (2006). North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis): a technical conservation assessment. [Online]. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region. Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/northamericanriverotter.pdf [accessed on June 27, 20071. RARE Emah SCIENCE, LLC