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WILDLIFE RESOURCES ASSESSMENT <br /> MORTON LAKES PROPERTY <br /> WELD COUNTY,COLORADO <br /> area is heavily disturbed by agriculture and contains no active prairie dog colonies, <br /> eagles would likely be attracted to the project area primarily by the presence of fish and <br /> waterfowl on Big Dry Creek and the presence of large trees for perching. The majority <br /> of cottonwood trees along Big Dry Creek are outside of the proposed mine footprint. <br /> These trees would continue to provide perching habitat for eagles and other raptor <br /> species. <br /> The proposed project would likely reduce eagle perching over the short term in areas <br /> near the active mine stage, but adequate perch sites would be available in areas not <br /> actively mined. Thus,the proposed project would not likely adversely affect the bald <br /> eagle and no action is necessary. <br /> Western Burrowing Owl <br /> Species Background <br /> The western burrowing owl (burrowing owl) is a small migrant owl listed by the State <br /> of Colorado as a threatened species and federally protected under the MBTA. Primary <br /> threats to the burrowing owl include habitat loss and fragmentation, anthropogenic <br /> sources of mortality such as vehicular collisions, and loss of wintering grounds, largely in <br /> Mexico (McDonald et al. 2004). <br /> Potential Habitat and Possible Effects <br /> In general,burrowing owls are found in grasslands with vegetation less than 4 inches <br /> high and a relatively large proportion of bare ground (Gillihan and Hutchings 2000). In <br /> Colorado, burrowing owls are usually associated with black-tailed prairie dog colonies <br /> (Kingery 1998;Andrews and Righter 1992). More than 70 percent of sightings reported <br /> by Colorado Breeding Bird Atlasers were in prairie dog colonies (Kingery 1998). <br /> Burrowing owls usually arrive on their breeding grounds around mid-March to early <br /> April and remain until September(Haug and Oliphant 1990). Burrowing owls are <br /> present in Colorado between March 1 and October 31, with breeding from mid-April to <br /> early/mid-August(Andrews and Righter 1992; Kingery 1998). The CDOW suggests <br /> conducting burrowing owl clearance surveys in prairie dog towns that are subject to <br /> poisoning and/or construction projects between March I and October 31. No prairie dog <br /> IRO <br /> 13 Resources <br /> Corporation <br />