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• CML1tB -Exhibit H <br />Wildlife Informetioo <br />Page 3 <br />(c) Presence and estimated population of threatened or endangered species from either <br />federal or state lists <br />The Dowe Flats area supports a relatively large number of bald eagles (a state and federal <br />endangered species) and ferruginous hawks (a federal candidate species) during the winter, and <br />impacts to their prey base (prairie dogs) will be mitigated. There is no documented evidence <br />to suggest that any other terrestrial state or federal threatened, endangered, or candidate species, <br />including the whooping crane, sandhill crane, peregrine falcon, interior least tern, piping plover, <br />white-faced ibis, western snowy plover, mountain plover, long-billed curlew, Preble's meadow <br />jumping mouse, black-footed ferret, or swift fox are present within the permit area. Surveys <br />for black-footed ferrets will be conducted in Dowe Flats during winter 199~/9a fntlpurinv <br />USFWS (1 <br />(d) Description of impacts caused by the proposed operation <br />Description of Impacts and Reclamation Effects <br />• This section describes impacts to wildlife during and after mining and reclamation operations. <br />Wildlife issues were originally described by Western Ecosystems Inc. (1987). _Description of <br />impacts to wildlife takes into consideration the effects_of mplementation of avoidance, <br />(minimization, mitigation and enhancement measures outlined in the reclamation plan. <br />Discussions are detailed for those wildlife species and groups that aze of special concern, and <br />are less specific for other wildlife groups. a,~,o,~ ~i`~ <br />~~,,,,r~~~. <br />R rs"1 ~lw~n _~ <br />'~ 2 <br />Although a wide variety of raptors seasonally hunt Dowe Flats, specific concerns focus on bald , <br />eagles and ferruginous hawks because of the permit area's importance to these endangered and <br />candidate species. Mining impacts to raptors will be entirely indirect, as the result of reduced <br />prey base availability. This reduction will be most significant during winter (November through <br />March) when relatively large numbers of these birds focus on the permit area's large prairie dog <br />towns. Therefore, the focus of the raptor issue is the availability of prairie dor;s as prey base for <br />raptors throughout the mining process. <br />. Prairie dog towns (Exhibit H Map) in the project area were initially documented by Holistic <br />