Laserfiche WebLink
Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse Habitat Assessment& Conservation Plan <br /> Two Rivers Parcels—Varra Companies <br /> Weld County, Colorado <br /> Introduction <br /> Varra Companies, Inc. (Client) retained ERO Resources Corporation (ERO)to perform a <br /> presence/absence survey for the federally threatened Preble's meadow jumping mouse (Zapus <br /> hudsonius preblei or Preble's)within a proposed project area in Weld County, Colorado (survey area). <br /> The property occurs near the confluence of the Little Thompson and South Platte Rivers. A population of <br /> Preble's is known to occur along the South Platte River, with the nearest successful trapping location <br /> found approximately 1.7 miles southwest of the project area (CPW 2001). The 2017 field survey was <br /> conducted to document the extent of the Preble's population within the proposed survey area. ERO <br /> wildlife biologists Ron Beane and Milu Velardi conducted surveys for Preble's on September 11 through <br /> 15, 2017 (2017 field survey). <br /> The proposed project is an aggregate mining operation consisting of scraping and stock-piling topsoil <br /> and mining sand, gravel and other aggregate materials from a series of mining cells within the project <br /> area. Mining would occur in phases with the individual cells. All mining would be restricted to current <br /> agricultural fields and no mining of mine operations would occur within 100-feet of the bank-full stage <br /> of the Little Thompson or South Platte Rivers. Aggregate processing would occur north of the canal that <br /> parallels the Little Thompson River. An overhead conveyor would transport mined material from the <br /> mining cells to the processing area. NO wetlands or waters of the U.S. would be impacted. <br /> Purpose <br /> The purpose of this report is to describe the methods and results of live-trapping efforts conducted in <br /> September 2017 and to request concurrence that no additional trapping efforts would be needed for <br /> this project moving forward. <br /> Federal Nexus <br /> Currently there is no federal nexus associated with this project. As currently designed there are no <br /> wetlands or waters of the U.S. exist in the proposed aggregate mining locations, including access, <br /> processing and staging areas. If any potential wetlands would be impacted the Client would be <br /> responsible for coordination and permitting with the U.S.Army Corp of Engineers. <br /> Project Area Description <br /> The project area is in portions of Sections 33 and 34,Township 5 North, Range 66 West, and Sections 3 <br /> and 4,Township 4 North, Range 66 West of the 6t" Principal Meridian in Weld County, Colorado (Figure <br /> 1). The UTM coordinates of the approximate center of the survey area are NAD 83 519043mE, <br /> 4466286mN,Zone 13N. The latitude/longitude of the survey area is 40.346911°N/104.775771°W. The <br /> elevation of the survey area is approximately 4,686 feet. <br /> 1 <br /> ERO Resources Corporation <br />