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5 <br />owl (i.e., mixed conifer-oakbrush communities, particularly with <br />a Douglas-fir component, associated with steep-walled rocky <br />canyons) occur in and among the tributaries of Parachute Creek. <br />Similar to the discussion for peregrine falcon (below), the <br />pipeline would parallel the precipitous cliffs along the West <br />Fork of Parachute for several miles, though any potential nest or <br />roost habitats in the canyon would be removed from construction- <br />related activity by 0.5 mile or more. The corridor involves no <br />substrate that could be considered potential nest or roost <br />habitat before dropping off the Roan Plateau's sage/serviceberry <br />communities into the agricultural bottomlands of Parachute Creek. <br />The Davis Point segment descends a steep, generally barren shale <br />slope, passing through 2 narrow stringers of Douglas-fir (up to <br />150' wide, 600' long separated by 500'), and is about a third of <br />a mile from more consistent fir/aspen distribution up West Fork <br />of Parachute. The Naval Oil Shale Reserve, immediately east of <br />the pipeline corridor, received an extensive and rather thorough <br />inventory by Colorado Natural Heritage Program staff in 1995 and <br />1996 with no indications of spotted owl. We feel .it would be <br />extremely unlikely that this project would encounter, much less <br />influence, spotted owl or habitat suitable for occupation. <br />black-footed ferret: Steigers Corporation found one sparsely <br />populated prairie dog colony (less than 5 acres) along Garfield <br />County Road 215 at the mouth of wheeler Gulch in the Parachute <br />Creek drainage (T6S R96W section 34). This group apparently <br />represents the only prairie dogs in the Parachute drainage and is <br />3 miles distant from the closest of other fragmented prairie dog <br />colonies along the Colorado River valley. It is unlikely that <br />prairie dogs, as distributed in the Parachute vicinity, would <br />ever be considered in the context of ferret recovery efforts. <br />Lacking a suitable habitat base, this project presents virtually <br />no potential for affecting prairie dog associates or adversely <br />influencing the potential extent or quality of habitat. <br />whooping crane: Except for transitory and opportunistic migration- <br />related stopover, the valley bottoms and open ridgelines <br />associated with the 2 plant sites and pipeline corridor offer no <br />resources that could be considered important in the context of <br />whooping crane or greater sandhill crane conservation. <br />yereerine falcon 6z bald eagle <br />The Yankee Gulch Lease holdings and the proposed pipeline <br />corridor were inventoried for raptors in May and June/early July <br />of 1998 by Cedar Creek Associates for American Soda. These <br />surveys indicated that nesting functions/features of special <br />status raptors would not be involved in the White River basin. <br />Approximately 10 miles of pipeline corridor in the upper reaches <br />of Parachute Creek were not inventoried at this time due to <br />access problems. The Cedar Creek inventory reports that an <br />