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I • J.E. Stover & Associates, Inc October 20, 2006 Page 2 coal mine workings of Bowie Mine #2. The North Fork River lies approximately an eighth-mile south. The North Fork River bottom is vegetated with native high-quality mixed stands of narrowleaf and Rio Grande cottonwoods, willows, and other riparian shrubs. The foothills on either side of the river bottom and the narrow river terraces support mesic and xeric mixed montane shrublands interspersed with pinyon-juniper woodlands. Condition of Subject Property As shown on Figure 2, the subject properly is bounded by Bowie Road on the north and a railroad alignment on the south. Beyond the railroad alignment lies Colorado Slate Highway 133. The Bowie Mine #2 conveyor and coal train load-out occupy land adjoining the subject property to the west, and a small acreage hay farm with a single family residence and small out-buildings adjoins the subject property to the east. Fire Mountain Canal traverses the north portion of the subject property from east to west. Several old buildings occupy the space between Bowie Road and Fire Mountain Canal. In the east portion of the subject property, a topsoil stockpile with a cover crop of cultivated pasture grasses occupies approximately 10 acres (Figure 2). As depicted on the aerial photograph in Figure 2 and in the attached documentary photographs, nearly the entire subject property is under cultivation in irrigated hay and orchard crops. The orchard and the west hay fields are fenced with 8-foot-high fencing to exclude big game. Ruderal • weeds andlor cultivar grasses dominate access roads and fencerows. Fire Mountain Canal supports a somewhat discontinuous corridor of native and naturalized riparian trees and shrubs, including several mature narrowleaf and Rio Grande cottonwoods (Populus angustifolia and P. deltoides wislizenii). Prior to its conversion to agricultural land, the subject property was likely dominated by native big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentate) shrublands and bisected with drainage patterns supporting mesic mixed montane shrubs, box elder (Acernegundo), and cottonwoods. Findings Table 1 summarizes the plant and animal species considered by this inventory, their habitat requirements, and whether suitable habitat is present on the subject property. I compiled Table 1 using agency lists available on-line (citations are provided at the end of Table 1), and limited the inventory to plants and animals with the potential to occur in the vicinity of the subject property. No threatened or endangered species or other species of concern were directly observed during the subject property visit. Given the current and historic uses of the subject property and the lack of suitable habitat for threatened and endangered species considered by this inventory, the likelihood of a threatened or endangered species to occur on the property is extremely low to none, with the exception of the bald eagle, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The subject property lies within bald eagle winter foraging range and a major bald eagle winter concentration area mapped by the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW). A CDOW-mapped bald eagle roost site exists within a quarter mile east of the subject property on the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Bald eagles may forage for rodents across the open agricultural fields of the subject property, and the property features several old cottonwoods that may provide attractive hunting perches or roosts for bald eagles. However, given the high-quality habitat available to bald eagles on the North Fork River, • which provides their preferred prey (fish and waterfowl), and given the availability of a several-mile- (~ Rare Earth Science, LLC