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sea level. The applicat~lands support two principal land u~: wildlife and livestock grazing. The grazing permit is for sheep use and is leased to Hotchkiss Ranches. Vegetation consist of oakbrush. The scenery is fairly common in the region; it contains no outstanding features and is seldom seen. Visibility from the highway is restricted by steep foreground slopes and ridgelines. Consequently, the Visual Resource Management designation is Class IV, which allows dominant modifications of moderate contrast but must incorporate visual elements of the characteristic landscape. Wildlife consists of species typical of mountain brush zones in the North Fork of the Gunnison area. The entire surface of the tract is deer and elk winter range. It is also classed as severe winter range for elk by the Colorado Division of Wildlife (GIS Digital Map data, 1996). Severe winter range would be analogous to BLM's designation of crucial winter range. A list of threatened and endangered species was requested from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for use in this analysis (See Appendix C). A complete list of the species suggested, as well as other species considered, is also contained in Appendix C. Of the species on this list, only the following are known to have potential to be found on the lands involved in this proposal: Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) Federal & State Threatened Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) Federal Endangered, State Threatened Bald eagles are known to winter in the North Fork area. BLM inventories classified the area as one receiving light bald eagle use. This species likely uses the lease tract for incidental foraging. There are no nests or communal roosts located on the surface of the lease modification. Peregrine falcgns nesting in the Gunnison Gorge and Roubideau Creek, as well as migrants, probably forage on the lease tract on occasion. The area does not have any habitat characteristics that make it particularly attractive to peregrine falcons. None of the following listed fishes are known to occur in the North Fork of the Gunnison, but the Colorado Squawfish (Burdick, 1995), humpback chub (Burdick, 1995), and razorback sucker (Valdez, 1982) are known to exist in the Gunnison River downstream of the Hartland Diversion. Designated critical habitat for the Colorado squawfish and the razorback sucker is located on the Gunnison River downstream of the confluence with the Uncompahgre River, and critical habitat for all four listed fishes is located on the Colorado River downstream of the Gunnison River confluence (Federal Register, 1994). Any water depletions associated with this proposal would have a negative effect on these species and their critical habitat. Bonytaii chub (Gila a/egans) Federal 8 State Endangered Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius) Federal & State Endangered Humpback chub (Gila cypha) Federal & State Endangered Razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) Federal & State Endangered Former category 2 candidate species, such as the loggerhead shrike and numerous bat species may also occur in the proposed project area. There are no listed, candidate, or "" 6