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A number of other small birds, small mammals, reptiles, and <br />raptors are dependent on the mountain shrub and pinion-juniper <br />habitat types on the review area. Blue grouse have been <br />documented on the area, but no specific portions of the area have <br />been identified as highly important for this species. <br />Riparian areas along the North Fork of the Gunnison River and up <br />Gribble Gulch a short distance could be extremely important for <br />the following bird species of high federal interest: <br />Sand-tailed plgeon Lewis' woodpecker Flemmulated owl <br />Black swift Prairie falcon williamson'^ sapsucker <br />Cooper's hawk western bluebird Great Dlue heron <br />These bird species depend heavily on the riparian vegetation, <br />particularly stands of cottonwoods and aspens, for food, cover, <br />and nesting habitat. Such stands provide islands in the <br />surrounding extensive stands of mountain shrub and pinion-juniper <br />habitat type and are considered important to these species. <br />The North Fork of the Gunnison River is habitat for the following <br />species of fish: <br />Rainbow trout Bluehead sucker Cb mottled sculpin <br />Brown trout CO speckled dace Western white sucker <br />Cutthroat trout Fathead minnow Flannelmouth sucker <br />G. <br />Fish are not present in the secondary drainages on the review <br />area due to the absence of perennial waters. <br />Endangered Species <br />There is no designated critical habitat on the review area. <br />However, the Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has proposed 2,094 <br />river miles of the Colorado River and its tributaries as critical <br />habitat for the Colorado.Squawfish, Razorback sucker, Humpback <br />chub, and Bonytailed chuff. The following annotated list of <br />Federal and State candidate and listed species have the potential <br />of occurring on the review area, or could be affected by a lease <br />and subsequent coal development. <br />None of the following listed fishes occur on the review area, or <br />in the North Fork of the Gunnison River: <br />Bonytail chub (ails elegena) Federnl 6 State Endangered <br />CO River equawfish (Ptychoche~lus lucfue) Federal 6 Stste 8ndangered <br />Humpback chub (ails cypAa) Federal i State Endangered <br />Reaorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanua) Federal i State Hndangered <br />However, the Upper Colorado River Basin, of which the North Fork <br />of the.Gunnison River is a tributary, does support populations of <br />these fish. The squawfish and razorback sucker have been known <br />to occur in the lower Gunnison River. Critical habitat for these <br />species has been proposed for 2,094 river miles in the Colorado <br />River system. <br />Bald eagles, (daliaeetus Ieucocephalus), Federal 6 State <br />Endangered species, are known to winter in the region of the <br />Page 8 <br />