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L' ` <br />INTRODUCTION <br />The purpose of this study is to determine the abundance and <br />distribution of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) at <br />Pittsburg and Midway Coal Mining Company's proposed <br />underground coal mine in Twentymile Park, Routt County, <br />Colorado. This subspecies of crane is endangered in <br />Colorado (Colorado Wildlife Commission 1973). Activity <br />during mine development and operation could impact the <br />cranes in the area. To determine the present status of the <br />cranes and their response to human activity (drilling and <br />seismic activities), a study 'was initiated in June, 1983, <br />and completed in October, 1983. <br />LITERATURE REVIEW <br />Sandhill cranes in northwestern Colorado currently nest in <br />Moffat, Routt, and Jackson Counties (Torres 1978). In Routt <br />County, most of the cranes nest in California Park and <br />Hahn's Peak Basin north of the Yampa River with a few <br />nesting south of the Yampa (Bieniasz 1979). As described by <br />W. D. Graul in Torres (1978, p 60),..."nesting habitat <br />consists primarily of large marshes and willow-lined <br />drainages of mountain meadows. In Colorado these birds nest <br />mainly along the mountain meadow drainage up to 9500 ft. <br />but a few nest along the Yampa River. The main limiting <br />factor on nesting is that the birds cannot tolerate <br />disturbance, primarily by humans, during the incubation and <br />chick-rearing periods. How old the chicks must be before <br />2 <br />