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3.3 Soils and Geology
<br /> The majority of the project area is dominated by fine sandy foams, loams, and rock outcrops. Per the
<br /> USDA-National Resource Conservation Service Web Soil survey(USDA-NRCS 2023), the dominant soil
<br /> map units include the Mincheyfine sandy loam, 1-lo%slopes(Map Unit 57);the Redlands sandy loam, 1
<br /> to 6 percent slopes(Map Unit 86), and the Farb-Rock outcrop complex, 1 to 30 percent slopes(Map
<br /> Unit 40). There is also a minor component of the Killpack-Deaver foams (Map Unit 52), rock outcrop
<br /> (Map Unit 87),and the Rock outcrop-Orthents complex(Map Unit 88).
<br /> The geology of the project area(Carter 1955), includes Map Unit Kd, Dakota Sandstone, Map Unit Km,
<br /> Mancos Shale, and small portions of the Map Unit Kbc, the Burro Canyon Formation. There are also
<br /> Quaternary Alluvium (Map Unit Qal) along Nicholas Wash which is located outside of the project
<br /> footprint between the East and West Parcels.The Dakota sandstone is yellowish, lenticular sandstone
<br /> and conglomerate with interbedded carbonaceous shale and impure coal while the Burro Canyon
<br /> Formation is white, gray, and red sandstone and conglomerate with interbedded green and purplish
<br /> shale. The Mancos shale is comprised of mostly dark gray shale but has been reported to also contain
<br /> small outcrops of the Hermosa formation, which is known to have gypsiferous soils and harbor unique
<br /> plant communities. See Figure 3.
<br /> 4.0 Pre-Field Review
<br /> A pre-field review was conducted for the project area and included a variety of records and files from
<br /> the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), BLM, Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP), Colorado
<br /> Parks and Wildlife(CPW), and local floras(CNHP 1997+, Lyon and Hanson 20o6,Weberand Wittmann
<br /> 2012, BLM zozo, Ackerfield 2022, CNHP 2022). Collectively this represents the best available science
<br /> Appendices A, B,and C contain species tracking tables noting the species scientific and common names,
<br /> habitat requirements, and potential for occurrence within the project area.
<br /> 4.1 Federally Listed Species
<br /> An official USFWS species list was received for the project area on July 18, 2023. See Appendix A. The
<br /> list includes one mammal, the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus); two birds, the Mexican spotted owl (Strix
<br /> occidentalis lucida)and Yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus);four species of Colorado River fish
<br /> bonytail (Gilia elegans), Colorado pikeminnow(Ptychocheilus lucius), humpback chub (Gila cypha), and
<br /> razorback sucker(Xyrauchen texanus), and two insects, the Monarch butterfly(Danas plexippus), and
<br /> silverspot (Speyeria nokomis nokomis). There are no federally listed, proposed, or candidate plant
<br /> species present or that are expected to occur within the proposed project area. There are also no
<br /> designated critical habitats for the project area. Each of the federally listed species is briefly discussed
<br /> below.
<br /> Gray Wolf.The gray wolf are the largest wild members of Canidae, or dog family, and occupy a wide
<br /> range of habitats. However, this species only needs to be considered if a proposed project includes a
<br /> predator management program.As no such program is being proposed,this species does not need to
<br /> be considered.
<br /> M exican Spotted OWL The Mexican spotted owl occurs in forested mountains and canyonlands
<br /> throughout the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. In Colorado,the habitat for Mexican spotted owls are
<br /> rocky canyons, and outside of these areas forested mountains and canyons. There is no appropriate
<br /> habitat for this owl species on the project site.
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