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fish (rainbow trout,brown trout, and northern pike). However, due to the poor production <br /> of benthic organisms and poor habitat conditions, the North Fork is not stocked frequently. <br /> Impacts to wildlife are minimized by prohibiting public use of trails when big game are <br /> concentrated in the winter(December 1 to April 16), and by prohibiting the cutting of snags <br /> except those within the actual disturbed area required for construction,thereby minimizing <br /> the loss of perches and nesting trees for raptors, insectivorous birds, and cavity nesters. <br /> Power lines and other transmission facilities are designed and constructed to protect raptors <br /> and other large birds from electrocution. Construction activities (e.g., heavy equipment, <br /> helicopters,blasting)are prohibited within one-quarter mile of any golden eagle nest during <br /> the nesting period (March 1 to July 1). <br /> The construction of the west portal facilities disturbed a short stretch of East Roatcap <br /> Creek. Carefully designed sediment control measures were used to protect the stream <br /> channel. The operator has agreed to compensate for any impacts to riparian areas by <br /> improving adjacent areas. <br /> After contacting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), three endangered fish <br /> species were noted as potentially being impacted indirectly by the operation: <br /> • Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus Lucius) <br /> • Humpback chub (Gila cypha) <br /> • Bonytail chub (Gila ele ag ns). <br /> While the proposed activity is not directly located in areas currently occupied by any of <br /> the above fish species, the USFWS believes that any depletion of water from the Upper <br /> Colorado River Basin(UCRB)may have negative impacts on these fish. Simply put,water <br /> that leaves the UCRB before reaching habitat areas for listed fishes may actually cause <br /> cumulative deterioration of downstream, occupied habitat. In this way depletions are <br /> thought to contribute to the decline of these fish. <br /> The operator submitted a report of the potential for depletions to the UCRB as part of the <br /> Orchard Valley (Bowie No. 1) West Mine permit revision request. The Division agreed <br /> with those findings. The operator predicted that 26.7 acre feet of water could be depleted <br /> by the operation. The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) <br /> relayed this information to the USFWS. This impact is minimal, but was to be mitigated <br /> by the operator through financial compensation to a USFWS fund set up for the endangered <br /> species. Both OSM and USFWS are satisfied with this arrangement, which is in use for <br /> other Federal projects impacting the UCRB. Stipulation No. 42, attached to the 1993 <br /> Permit Renewal No. 2 document, required the applicant to submit water depletion <br /> information for the purpose of calculating the financial compensation amount. This <br /> stipulation was complied with through Minor Revision No. 93. <br /> In Technical Revision No. 32, a second water depletion estimate was made concerning a <br /> proposed increase in the production rate from I million to 5 million tons per year at the <br /> Bowie No. 1 unit train loadout. The water depletion estimate that was calculated by BRL <br /> amounted to 155.6 acre-feet. This information was forwarded to the U.S. Forest Service <br /> 36 <br />