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Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment <br /> Two Rivers Parcels-Varra Companies <br /> Weld County, Colorado <br /> cattail/bull rush marshes and near pond edges. This species has been documented along the Arkansas <br /> River drainage in southeastern Colorado and the Republican River in east-central Colorado. <br /> Threats include habitat fragmentation and conversion resulting in the loss of wetland habitats, land <br /> management practices (e.g., incompatible fire management practices, grazing, and haying/mowing and <br /> other mechanical treatment activities) and increasing storm intensity and frequency. There are no exact <br /> counts of eastern black rail populations at the present time, so analysis units based on habitat have <br /> been identified across the United States. <br /> Potential Habitat and Effects <br /> The mine area completely avoids all wetland and riparian vegetation communities,thus there would be <br /> no effects on the species, and no further action is necessary. <br /> Monarch Butterfly <br /> Species Background <br /> Monarch butterflies occur throughout much on North America and is segregated into an eastern and <br /> western population. The monarch is the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration as birds do. <br /> Monarch butterflies are dependent on milkweeds (primarily Asclepias spp.) as a host plant for egg laying <br /> and larval development (Service 2021). <br /> Potential Habitat and Effects <br /> The project area is not within a designated migration corridor or breeding or overwintering area for this <br /> species (Service 2019), although some monarch butterflies migrate through Colorado in the <br /> summer. Several scattered milkweeds were observed in the project area, and ERO observed one <br /> migrating monarch butterfly during the 2021 site visit. This species may occasionally travel through the <br /> project area but is not likely to lay eggs because host plants are lacking <br /> Recommendations <br /> Because no host plants and other nectar-producing plants were identified in the project area,the <br /> proposed project is highly unlikely to affect the monarch butterfly and any inadvertent loss of potential <br /> seasonal habitat would not contribute to the decline of the species. No action is necessary. <br /> Ute Ladies'-Tresses Orchid <br /> Species Background <br /> ULTO is federally listed as threatened. ULTO occurs at elevations below 7,800 feet in moist to wet <br /> alluvial meadows, in floodplains of perennial streams, and around springs and lakes where the soil is <br /> seasonally saturated within 18 inches of the surface (Service 1992a). This species has also been found <br /> along irrigation canals, irrigated meadows, gravel pits, and other human-modified wetlands (Service <br /> 2018). Generally,the species occurs where the vegetative cover is relatively open and not overly dense <br /> or overgrazed. Once thought to be fairly common in low-elevation riparian areas in the interior western <br /> ERO Project#21-266 8 <br /> ERO Resources Corporation <br />