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• INTRODUCTION <br />Seneca Coal Company (SCC) operates the Seneca II-W coal surface mine, <br />approximately seven miles south of Hayden, in Routt County, Colorado. In 1997, a wildlife <br />baseline study was conducted on a proposed 1400-acre southward extension, termed the <br />Seneca II-W South Expansion (hereinafter also called the "expansion area"). The baseline <br />study included information on big game, raptors, and species of concern. Species of concern <br />were defined as Federally- and State-listed threatened and endangered species, and other <br />species listed as "rare or imperiled" by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program. The potential <br />occurrence of species of concern was evaluated through literature review and the results of on- <br />site habitat inspection. <br />The boreal toad (Bufo boreas boreas), listed as endangered by the state of Colorado, <br />was not noted in the baseline study as potentially occurring on site, due to range and habitat <br />limitations. However, comments subsequently received during the mining permit review <br />process from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Colorado Division of <br />• Minerals and Geology requested boreal toad surveys be conducted on the expansion area. <br />Recent information had revealed toad populations in mountain ranges both north (Elkhead <br />Mountains/California Park) and south (Flat Tops Wilderness) of the mine, and at elevations as <br />low as 7500 feet ASL (in Wyoming). Thus, the USFWS considered the expansion area <br />potential boreal toad habitat. <br />Accordingly, SCC contracted Powder River Eagle Studies Inc. to conduct boreal toad <br />surveys on the expansion area during the 1999 breeding season. This report describes the <br />expansion area and its habitats, along with survey methods and results. All locations given are <br />in Township 5 North, Range 88 West. <br />STUDY AREA <br />The proposed expansion area lies adjacent to the south boundary of the Seneca II-W <br />Mine permit area. It occupies approximately 1400 acres in Sections 26, 27, 34, and 35 <br />(Figure 1). The expansion area is in the Williams Fork Mountains, just north of the divide <br />• between the Yampa River to the north and the Williams Fork River to the south. Forested <br />habitat of the Williams Fork Mountains is limited primarily to mountain shrubland and aspen <br />Seneca II-W South Expansion <br />1999 Boreal Toad Survey Page 1 <br />