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grounds, prelaying habitat, nesting habitat, early brood-rearing habitat, and summer late brood-rearing habitat), <br />summer range, transition range and winter range. The proposed site and the associated disturbance zone are <br />located entirely within these high use critical sage-grouse habitats. <br />Greater Sage-Grouse are restricted to sagebrush rangelands throughout Western North America and are found <br />nowhere else in the world. Greater Sage-Grouse are declining across much of their range, and locally the <br />CDOW has seen Greater Sage-Grouse populations in southern Routt County decline over the past 30 yeazs. <br />On September 1, 2004, the Northern Eagle/Southem Routt Greater Sage-Grouse Work Group completed a <br />conservation plan with sage-grouse and sage-grouse habitat conservation and protection in mind. This plan <br />was the result of collaborative effort involving private landowners and private industry as well as state and <br />federal wildlife and land management agencies. There has been significant local involvement on this plan and <br />signatures supporting this plan include several South Routt landowners (including property owners adjacent to <br />the proposed pit), Routt County officials, and CDOW staff. <br />CDOW data indicates a population decline for local Greater Sage-Grouse population found in Southem Routt <br />and Northern Eagle Counties since the late 1950s. Local landowners also believe that numbers have declined <br />over the years. Presently, the population is believed to be somewhere between 300-450 birds. The Greater <br />Sage-Grouse population goal developed by the Northern Eagle/Southem Routt Greater Sage-Grouse Work <br />Group is to maintain the current population while increasing the breeding season population to 500 birds. <br />Research indicates that a viable population needs a minimum of 500 breeding individuals to ensure long-term <br />persistence of that population. <br />Sagebrush habitat is a critical component for both breeding success in Greater Sage-Grouse as well as winter <br />survival of the species. An additional goal developed by the Northern Eagle/Southem Routt Greater Sage- <br />Grouse Work Group is to maintain relatively lazge and contiguous pazcels of quality sagebrush habitats while <br />also maintaining connectivity to other quality sagebrush habitats. Long-term survival of Greater Sage-Grouse <br />depends on connectivity to other sage-grouse populations. Specifically, the workgroup adopted a goal to <br />improve or sustain the quantity and quality of Greater Sage-Grouse habitats located in Southem Routt and <br />Northern Eagle Counties. <br />Greater Sage-Grouse rely on sagebrush habitats for the majority of their life cycle. In early March, males begin <br />establishing territories on leks, which begins the breeding season for sage-grouse. Successful leks are typically <br />located in close proximity to quality sagebrush, which is believed to provide escape cover, feeding, roosting, <br />and ultimately nesting habitat. Lek sites also tend to be located in azeas where terrain and short vegetation <br />growth allow for good visibility and rnaximum acoustical delivery. Prelaying activity occurs shortly after the <br />males begin showing up on the leks. Reseazch suggests that the prelaying habitats are likely azeas with a high <br />level of vegetation diversity to allow hens to obtain the nutritional needs they have during the egg development <br />stage. Nesting habitat for Greater Sage-Grouse is typically located within 4 miles of an active lek site. Usually <br />nesting habitat will be comprised of tall and dense sagebrush canopy cover with a variety of grasses and high <br />forb composition in the understory. The majority of eggs hatch in mid-June, but hatch can occur as eazly as <br />mid-May and be as late as the end of July. Early brood-rearing habitat is typically located in close proximity to <br />the nests and once again, reseazch indicates that tall sagebrush with good canopy cover and sufficient <br />understory of grasses and forbs is essential for brood survival. Typically, hens will keep their broods in this <br />sage habitat throughout the summer. Fall habitat is transition range from late summer to winter habitat. While <br />Greater Sage-Grouse may search for habitats that will continue to provide green forbs and lush vegetation as <br />plant communities stazt to dry up, they continue to also rely on sagebrush habitat during this period. However, <br />they tend to move to azeas that aze comprised of denser sagebrush. After the first killing frost, Greater Sage- <br />Grouse feed almost exclusively on sagebrush throughout the winter months. Sagebrush also provides birds <br />with the necessary cover to survive the elements and predators. <br />In the fall of 2003, the CDOW collaborated with the BLM to initiate aradio-collar study of sage-grouse in <br />Southem Routt and Northern Eagle Counties. Two thousand and four data shows that the locations for many <br />of the radio-collared birds concentrated within one mile of the proposed site throughout the breeding and <br />production season indicating the importance of this azea for Greater Sage-Grouse. Additionally, prior to this <br />radio-collaz study, little was known of winter habitat in the Toponas area. The radioed birds were consistently <br />