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and Artiss 1992). Prolonged cool, wet spring weather in 7993 resulted <br />• in very poor production that year (J. Haskins, person. comm.). Howev- <br />er, even if populations were at a peak, sage grouse use of the Yoast <br />area would be minimal. <br />The major portion of the permit area is outside the range of sage <br />grouse, which generally inhabit level to rolling sagebrush-grasslands. <br />The steep topography and mountain brush/aspen habitats that character- <br />ize the majority of the proposed permit area are not suitable for sage <br />grouse use. <br />RAPTORS <br />Three species of raptors were found nesting in the survey area in <br />1993: Cooper's hawk (Accioiter coooerii), red-tailed hawk (Buteo <br />jamaicensis), and great horned owl (Bubo viratnianus). Seven other <br />• raptor species--turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), northern harrier <br />(Circus cvaneus), sharp-shinned hawk (Accitioer striatus), northern <br />goshawk (Accioiter gentilis), Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni), <br />golden eagle (Aquila chrvsaetos), and American kestrel (Falco soarver- <br />ius)--were recorded in the area during the 1993 breeding season, but <br />no active nests containing eggs or young of those species were found. <br />In early spring, two observations of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leuco- <br />ceohalus) and one of an osprey (Pandion haliaetus) were made at <br />Nofstger Reservoir east of the proposed permit area, along Twenty-mile <br />Road. Neither species is likely to nest on or near the Yoast permit <br />area due to habitat considerations. <br />Twenty-seven raptor nests were found in the survey area in 1993 <br />• (Table 6). Eleven of those nests were on the proposed permit area; <br />the other 16 nests were in the one-mile perimeter. <br />25 <br />