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Threatened Endangered and Sensitive (TESJ Species' Habiun Assessment Survey 3.0 RESULTS 3.1 SITE DESCRIPTION The Project Area occws at an elevation ranging from 6,850 to 7,300 feet, and has topography consisting of a moderately sloped valley bottom drained by a poorly defined intermittent channel, and very steep hillsides (50% slope or greater) to the north and south. The site is accessible via a road leading from the Beaz Creek road to an existing GVB (GVB-LW3-01) pad (Photograph 1), which defines the western boundary, and lowest elevation, of th~~ Project Area. Three vegetation communities occur within the Project Area; ripazian, oak-brush shrubland, and Douglas-fir forest. The ripazian community extends the length of the valley bottom and vazies from twenty to sixty feet in width. The dominant species observed in the ripazian zone is chokecherry (Padus virginiana), with sub-dominance exhibited by snowberry (Symphoricarpos rotundifolius) and hawthorn (Crataegus rivularis). A few lazge narrowleaf cottonwood (Populus angustfolia) trees observed Bowing in the ripazian community were seazched thoroughly for the presence of raptor nests, as were the occasional aspen (Populus tremuloides) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesi:) trees. Photograph 2 presents a typical view of the vegetation observed in the riparian community. No raptor nests were observed an}'where along the proposed access road corridor. Oak-brush shrubland, dominated by scrub oak (Quercus gambelii) with a significant snowberry understory, covers the south-facing slope on the north side of the valley. A large patch of scrub oak also occupies awest-facing slope that is traversed by the lroposed access road on the south side of the valley. The proposed access road, which follows the northern edge of the valley floor, crosses multiple terraces adjacent to the ripazian zone that are dominated by scrub oak. Both proposed GVB's aze located within patches of scrub oak. GVB-LW4-03 is on a scrub oak- dominated terrace (Photograph 3) and GVB-LW3-03 is in the midst of a patch of scrub oak surrounded by Douglas-fir (Photograph 4). The third vegetation community observed in the Project Arett is the Douglas-fir forest, which occupies the majority of the north-facing slope on the southern side of the valley. Chokecherry and snowbeny dominate the understory vegetation in those portions of the Douglas-fv forest that have a closed canopy. Where the canopy is somewhat open, scrub oak is the dominant understory species. A thorough search or the valley floor for springs and seeps was conducted during the field survey. Not only were none found, the absence of a defined drain:lge channel through the riparian community indicates that no water flows on a regular basis through this valley. Additionally, no hydrophytic vegetation was observed during the survey. N~~ wetland habitat was observed anywhere within the Project Area. 3.2 FEDERALLY LISTED SPECIES Table 1 presents the USFWS list of species for Gunnison County, Colorado, protected under the authority of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The ESA provides a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species depend may be conserved and appropriate actions taken to protect those ecosystems and facilitate recovery of those species. 1838-oxbow_TES Survey_(10.25.04).doc