2017-10-05_PERMIT FILE - M2017049 (36)

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Potential Mexican Spotted Owl Habitat and Use for the Hitch Rack Ranch Project Introduction Transit Mix Concrete Company(Transit Mix) is seeking a permit for the development of a new construction aggregate quarry (Project) on a portion of the privately-owned Hitch Rack Ranch (Ranch) located in the southwestern corner of El Paso County in Sections 16, 21, 22, and 23, Township 16 S, Range 67 W of the 6th Principal Meridian. The quarry and access road will be developed on 399 acres of the 1,432-acre Ranch property. The life-of-mine for the Project will be more than 40 years (Transit Mix 2017). Transit Mix contracted Mr. Charles Johnson (Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.) to review existing information and evaluate the potential use and habitat of the Mexican Spotted Owl(MSO)(Stix occidentalis lucia) within and near the Project area. To evaluate the potential for breeding habitat within or near the Project area, a habitat model was developed based on MSO research in the Project vicinity. A similar model was developed to evaluate potential breeding habitat on the White River National in Colorado in 2005 (Johnson and Paulson 2005). Mr. Johnson conducted research on the MSO in Colorado between 1990 and 1997, while working for the United States (U.S.) Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rocky Mountain Experimental Station, including MSO sites that were identified in the Project region. Due to concerns over the loss of forested habitat from timber harvest and wildfire, the MSO was federally listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)on April 15, 1993 (58 Federal Register[FR] 14248) (FR 1993). Critical habitat for the MSO was designated in 1995 (Final designation 2004 [USFWS 2004]). Colorado MSO Habitat The MSO ranges from northern Colorado and central Utah, south through Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas, to central Mexico (Forsman et al. 1984). In the central and southern parts of the owl's range (Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico), habitat of the MSO consists of canyons and uplands with mixed-conifer forests, although ponderosa pine(Pinus ponderosa) and spruce-fir forests are sometimes used (Ganey et al. 1988). In Colorado, MSO breeding habitat in which the owls conduct nesting, foraging, and roosting activities, consists of deep, sheer-walled sandstone or rocky canyons from about 6,000 to 8,500 feet (Johnson 1997). These canyons contained either ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests or pihon- juniper forests with small, isolated patches of Douglas-fir(Reynolds and Johnson 1994; Johnson 1997). Based on the examination of MSO breeding and roosting habitat in Colorado, Mr. Johnson (1997) found that MSOs prefer narrow, steep-walled rocky canyons that provide thermal cover from high temperatures; provide suitable potholes, ledges, and caves for nesting and roosting; provide habitat for woodrats, a major prey item of the Colorado MSO; and protection from predators (Johnson 1997). Breeding Habitat Along the front range of Colorado, studies confirmed 14 occupied breeding sites between 1990 and 1997 (Johnson 1997). Elevation of these sites ranged between 6,480 feet above mean sea level (amsl) and 9,412 amsl (mean elevation: 7,565 feet amsl). All sites were characterized by narrow steep-walled, deeply cut canyons with exposed rock cliffs either close to the canyon floor or, more typically, several tiers of cliffs at various heights on both canyon slopes. Forests in these sites were dominated by Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), white fir(Abies concolor), and ponderosa pine in the bottoms and pinyon (Pinus spp.)-juniper(Juniperus spp.) on xeric south-and west-facing slopes with a relatively high canopy cover (mean: approximately 80 percent canopy cover) (Johnson 1997). MSOs roost on cliffs, in caves, in trees, and in large shrubs. Roost sites typically were in the bottom of the canyons close to or on rock cliffs often surrounded by Douglas-fir or mixed conifer forests. Day roosts typically were protected by forest canopies and the steep or sheer topography of the canyons September 2017 1