2003-05-14_PERMIT FILE - M2003001

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6.4.8 Ezhibit H -Wildlife Information Wildlife Assessment Site Description Savage and Savage conducted a wildlife assessment for the Hall-Irwin Nissen Farms resource site on November 21, 2002. The Nissen Farms resource site comprises approximately 125 acres contained in the S%x of Section 12 in TSN, R67W of the 6'" prime meridian in Weld County, Colorado. The property is bounded on the north by the South Platte River and a flood control levee, the east and south by property fence lines, and the west by Weld County Road 58. Currently, the property has several ongoing land uses including a homestead, agriculture (row crops}, and oil and gas production. Adjacent land uses include oil and gas production, agriculture, daisies, and grazing. The property was accessed from Weld County Roads 58. Weather during our site investigation was warm, dry, and cieaz with a high temperature in the mid-60's (°F). The topography of the site is dominated by the secondary and tertiary alluvial terraces of the South Platte River. The river and primary alluvial terrace aze isolated from the project site by a man-made levee rnnning along the north boundary of the property. The elevation of the study area averages 4600 feet and slopes very gently to the northeast. The soils that dominate the site aze formed from alluvium and consist of sandy loams and clays underlain by sand and gravel. The significant hydrologic features of the site aze the earthen and concrete constructed irrigation ditches used in the fazming operations. There aze no significant natural vegetation communities within the project site. The project site was planted to oats and corn this season, according to the property lessee, Mr. Ed Schmidt. A cottonwood riparian woodland is located north of the project site along the primary and secondary alluvial terraces of the South Platte River. Small inclusions of prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata), reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea), and wild licorice (Glycyrrhiza lepidota) can be found along the banks of the irrigation ditches. Significant ~[dlije Resources Tables 1, 2, and 3 list wildlife species that potentially occur on-site according to the Colorado Distribution Latilong Studies (CDOW, 1981, 1990, 1998). The latilong studies address mar~m~als, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. During the site investigation we encountered few wildlife species within the project site. The majority of the wildlife species were observed north of the project site within the adjacent riparian corridor. A list of the species observed adjacent to the site is included on the wildlife field data sheet in the Appendix.