2023-01-10_PERMIT FILE - M2023001 (22)

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ERC Fairmeadows Site Threatened-Endangered Species and General Wildlife Screening • The survey area does not contain the specific habitat characteristics necessary to support the species listed above.These species and/or critical habitat is not present within the survey area. It is assumed herein that future land use changes would not be considered a new water depletion. Therefore, the project would result in No Take to these species. Species Potentially within Range The following federally listed threatened and endangered species are identified to occur or historically occur within Weld County(USFWS 2022). The survey area is located within the potential known range for these species to occur. Further analysis was conducted to determine if the species or habitat has the potential to exist within the survey area considering site-specific conditions and characteristics. A brief explanation is provided as to the species life cycle, habitat requirements and potential occurrence within the survey area.The survey area is not within designated critical habitat of any federally listed species. 41t1 . Eastern Black rail Laterallus jamaicensis ssp.jamaicensis FT NO TAKE Preble's meadow jumping mouse Zapus hudsonius preblei FT NO TAKE Ute Ladies'-tresses orchid Spiranthes diluvialis FT NO TAKE *Status key: FT—Federally listed as threatened EASTERN BLACK RAIL(LATERALLUS JAMAICENSIS SSP.JAMAICENSIS) Eastern black rail(rail)is a member of the family Rallidae that includes rails,coots,and gallinules. It is one of five recognized subspecies of black rail,two of which, L.j.jamaicensis and L.j. coturniculus, are found in North America, but do not co-occur (Clements et al 2021). On November 9, 2020, the US Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule to list the rail as a federally threatened species under the ESA.The rail are gray-black in coloration,with white speckled upperparts,and has a grayish crown,a chestnut-colored nape of the neck, and a short tail. Within the interior United States, rail are reliably located within the Arkansas River Valley of Colorado and the northern portion of the Front Range. Rail require dense vegetative coverthat allows movement underneath the canopy. Because these birds are found in a variety of salt, brackish, and freshwater marsh habitats that can be tidally or non-tidally influenced, plant structure is considered more important than plant species composition in predicting habitat suitability (Flores and Eddleman 1995). Vegetation height is generally less than or equal to 1 meter in coastal habitats, but taller in occupied cattail and bulrush marshes (Davidson 1992). A 2019 species status assessment noted that when shrub densities become too high, the habitat becomes less suitable for eastern black rails. Soils are moist to saturated, occasionally dry, and interspersed with, or adjacent to, very shallow water of 1 to 6 centimeters,(Legare and Eddleman 2001).In Colorado,eastern black rails use habitat with shallow wetlands dominated by cattails (Typha spp.), hardstem bulrush (Scirpus acutus var. acutus) and soft-stemmed bulrush (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani), with willow (Salix spp.) in the overstory (Griese 1980). Nests are constructed of live and dead emergent, herbaceous plants, like fine grasses, rushes or sedges, often with a dense clump of vegetation that conceals the nest from above. These nests may be dome shaped and have a ramp of dead vegetation on one side (Harlow 1913) (Todd 1977). • Rail are known to occur in herbaceous riparian areas in Weld County. The soils in and around the depression with the small patch of reed canarygrass are dry and devoid of an adjacent water source. Due to the absence of suitable riparian habitat, it is unlikely that the rail exists within the survey area. Any future land use changes on the survey area would result in No Take of this species or potential habitat of this species. 11