2005-07-13_REVISION - M2000016 (10)

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FORT LUPTON PROPERTIES PREBLE'S MEADOW 7UMPWG MOUSE SURVEY impacted by past agricultural practices and aggregate mining, both upstream and downstream of the site. Many areas adjacent to the river have been disturbed by human activity. Concrete rubble, trash, and junkyards occur along the river near old farms and industrial areas between Brighton and Fort Lupton. On the morning of June ISa', a small portion of willow shrub vegetation in Group 5 was destroyed by road clearing activities. Past Studies Three crapping surveys and a high number of habitat evaluations have been conducted near the study area, with no Preble's being captured. Da Tim Bi Environmental conducted a trapping survey on the southern end of the Fort Lupton properties in 2000 (Riverbend property-letter attached), Greystone conducted a trapping survey 2.12 miles downstream on the South Platte River in 1998, Walsh Environmental LLC conducted a trapping survey near the City of Fort Lupton on the South Platte River 2.08 miles away from the study area in 2001, and Stoecker Ecological Consultants carried out a,trapping survey on Wattenberg Lakes, I mile north of County Road 23 and 2.7 miles away from the study area in 2001 (Da Timbi 2000, Greystone 1998; Walsh 2001; Stoecker 2001). All trapping surveys were found to have no captures of Preble's. There also have been a few habitat evaluations conducted along Big Dry Creek, five being conducted in 1997 by Greystone approximately 3.38 miles away from the Fort Lupton properties, with all evaluations reporting no trapping necessary (Greystone 1997). Results Four rodent species were captured in 1,325 trapnights of effort. The species captured were western harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys meglotis), meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), and house mouse (Mus musculus). There were 79 captures of westem harvest mice, 13 captures of meadow voles, 333 captures of deer mice, and 37 captures of house mice. The total capture success rate was 34.9 percent. Percentage of traps available (unsprung) was 52 percent. On the morning of June I5`~, a bulldozer conducting road-clearing activities destroyed 25 traps in Group 5. Trapping results are shown in Table 2.