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FORT LUPTON PROPERTIES <br />PREBLE'S MEADOW JUMPING MOUSE SURVEY <br />placed directly along the riparian corridor of the river, with plains cottonwood and prairie <br />cordgrass being the dominant species. Group 4 (Photos 2 and 3) was adjacent to the river <br />with various wetland and shrub species. <br />Big Dry Creek flows through the study area from southwest to northeast. Several <br />diversions occur along the creek within the study area. Vegetation along the creek <br />consists mostly of sandbar willow, with reed canarygrass, prairie cordgrass, stinging <br />nettle (Urtica dioica), Canada thistle, and poison hemlock. Mature plains cottonwoods <br />are scattered throughout the Big Dry Creek corridor within the study area. Trap lines in <br />Group 2 (Photos 4 and 5) contained a large amount of sandbar willow, Canada thistle, <br />poison hemlock, and prairie cordgrass. Traps were placed on both sides of the Big Dry <br />Creek riparian corridor and ran from east to west. Group 5 (Photo 6) was adjacent to Big <br />Dry Creek but located directly beside an irrigation ditch. Dominant vegetation consists <br />of snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), reed canarygrass, prairie cordgrass, and Emory's <br />sedge (Carex emoryi). <br />Several irrigation ditches traverse the study area. Some linear stands of mature <br />cottonwood occur along the ditches. Most of the ditches flow through heavily grazed <br />areas or cropland. Group 3 was located along fringe wetlands. Dominant vegetation in <br />these wetlands is mostly reed canarygrass and Emory's sedge, which occurs along the <br />banks of the ditches. <br />Upland areas vary greatly throughout the site. No native shortgrass prairie areas exist <br />in the study area. Some upland pastures, dominated mostly by smooth brome, occur in <br />riparian areas near the South Platte River. The majority of upland areas consist of <br />irrigated cropland. Prominent crops in the areas are corn, onion, mustard, cabbage, and <br />hay. <br />This site historically has been used for agriculture, including livestock grazing and <br />agricultural crops. Current land use in the area consists of agriculture, sand and gravel <br />mining, light industrial and rural residential, which has caused fragmentation of habitat <br />along the South Platte River and Big Dry Creek, as well as habitat disturbance from <br />livestock grazing. Portions of the South Platte River corridor have been severely <br />