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AMERICAN SODA, L.L.P. WILDLIFE MITIGATION PLAN RAPTORS Raptor species that nest in pinyon-juniper habitats on ridges, such as accipiters and owls, are potentially at greatest risk of being impacted by Yankee Gulch Project solution mining activities due to loss of nesting habitat. Species such as golden eagles and red-tailed hawks, which commonly nest in cliffs, are at the least risk of being affected. Because of the potential for the Yankee Gulch Project to adversely affect raptors, the following mitigation measures have been designed in consultation with the BLM and the CDOW to minimize this potential. The primary objectives of this Raptor Mitigation Plan are 1) to protect current nesting efforts of raptors consistent with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and other applicable state and federal laws or regulations through effective application of standard BLM timing limitations and no surface occupancy stipulatiuns and 2) to retain the integrity of woodland habitats within the mining panels and maintain their long-term utility as woodland raptor nesting habitat. Efforts will be made to maintain the integrity of and minimize impacts to desirable woodland habitats when laying out roads, pipeline corridors, and well pads within the mining panels, thereby helping to maintain their potential as raptor nesting habitat. Functional nest sites and predefined parcels of higher-density canopy will be considered discrete habitat features. Integral with well field layout design and planning, American Soda, the BLM, and the CDOW will attempt to avoid, where possible, and otherwise reduce to the extent practicable, modification of these features as nesting habitat (e.g., stand extent, crown composition and structure, and canopy density/continuity). To this end, a site review will be carried out by BLM staff prior to any surface disturbance in a mining panel to delineate important habitat components, specifically high-density pinyon-juniper stands. This site review may be accomplished by a combination of inspection of aerial photography and on-the-ground surveys and would result in habitat delineation and mapping. An ancillary goal of the raptor habitat delineation effort will be to identify and minimize the loss of ponderosa pine stands and individuals within the mining panels, particularly large individuals that are reproducing. No surface disturbance in a mining panel will occur until specific delineation of that disturbance is approved by the BLM. Unavoidable adverse modification of these stands or habitats would be subject to specialized reclamation techniques that would accelerate restoration of former woodland character (e.g., comparable self-sustaining live stem density and Wildlife Md~gation Plan 4_1 Yankee Gulch Sodium Minerals Project American Soda, L.L.P.