2023-10-30_PERMIT FILE - P2023018

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Yellow-Billed Cuckoo. Yellow-billed cuckoos use wooded habitat with dense cover and water nearby, including woodlands with low, scrubby,vegetation, overgrown orchards, abandoned farmland and dense thickets along streams and marshes. There is no habitat for the yellow-billed cuckoo within the project area. Colorado Endangered Fish Species. There are four species of Colorado River fish listed as threatened or endangered: Bonytail chub, Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, and the razorback sucker. None of the Colorado Riverfish species have suitable habitat within the project area. However, water depletions in the upper Colorado River basin can adversely affect these species and their critical habitat.Therefore,these species may need to be considered if water depletions are associated with the proposed project. Monarch Butterfly.The monarch is a candidate species and not yet listed or proposed for listing. There are no section 7 requirements for candidate species. Milkweed plants and other flowering plants are needed for monarch habitat. While adult monarchs feed on the nectar of many flowers during breeding and migration, they can only lay eggs on milkweed plants. Only one milkweed plant observed to be present within the project area, the site is unlikely to provide any substantial habitat for this butterfly. Silverspot. The silverspot butterfly is a subspecies that has been documented in ten populations across southwestern Colorado, eastern Utah, and northern New Mexico, ranging in elevation from 5,200 to 8,300 feet. The silverspot requires moist, open meadows with vegetation for shelter. This butterfly lays eggs on, or immediately next to, the bog violet (Viola nephrophylla/V. sororia var. a f finis) that the larvae feed on exclusively.There is no habitat for the silverspot within the project area. 4.2 BLM Sensitive Species 4.2.1 BLM Sensitive Plant Species Ten BLM sensitive plant species are listed as being potentially present or have been found on lands administered by the Tres Rios Field Office (BLM 2020). See Table C1 in Appendix C. However, only two species have potential to occur within the project area: Naturita milkvetch(Astragalus naturitensis)and the Gypsum Valley cateye(Cryptantha revealii). See Table C1 in Appendix C. None of the other eight rare plants listed for the Tres Rios Field Office are known from or have habitat within the project area. 4.2.2 BLM Sensitive Wildlife Numerous BLM Sensitive Wildlife are listed for Colorado. See Table Cz in Appendix C. However, the majority of these species do not have habitat within the project area or were not observed during field reconnaissance.Species which do have some potential include ferruginous hawk(Buteo regalis),which may forage over the vast expanses of ungrazed or lightly grazed grassland, Townsend big-eared bat, which occupies semidesert shrublands and pinyon-juniper woodlands; Gunnison's prairie dog (Corynorhinus townsendii), white tailed prairie dog (Cynomys leucurus), and Big Free-tailed Bat (Nyctinomops macrotis). 4.3 Migratory Birds of Conservation Concern There are four species of migratory birds of conservation concern that are listed in the USFWS query for federally listed species. These include Clark's Nutcracker (Nuci fraga columbiana), Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Pinyon Jay(Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus),and Virginia'sWarbler(Vermivora virginiae). None