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States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Annual surveys will monitor large <br />game populations and use of reclaimed areas, raptor :nesting ii- the permit <br />area, presence and use of the mine azea by sage grouse, Columbian sharp- <br />tailed grouse, and blue grouse, and presence of any endangered or threatened <br />species in the permit area. <br />Short and long term impacts to wildlife identified in the permit application <br />package relate to habitat loss. One of the post mine lands users which the <br />reclamation plan aims to reestablish is wildlife habitat. Habitat loss will be <br />mitigated by including measures to reestablish wildlife habitat during <br />contemporaneous reclamation of disturbed azeas, and by avoidance of impacts <br />during operations. Those measures include, <br />use of beneficial native plants in the reclamation Need mix, <br />' establishment of shrub and/or tree islands to provide cover and <br />roosting areas in the reclaimed areas, , <br />establishment of rock and slash piles for cover and roosting <br />areas in the reclaimed areas, <br />avoidance of disturbance in buffer zones in bottonilands, <br />avoiding disturbance of active raptor nests in the disturbed area <br />and/or relocating those nests. <br />1. The applicant has proposed the use of persistent pesticides on <br />the site during mining and/or reclamation operations. One or <br />more of seven herbicides listed in Table 22-1Q of the permit <br />application may be used to control noxious weeds in the mine <br />area. The Division proposes to approve this usage. <br />(4.18(5)(g))• I <br />i <br />2. Fish and wildlife habitat is a planned post-mining land use. <br />The applicant has selected appropriate: plant species and <br />distributions to benefit fish and wildlife. Refer to Section VIII <br />of this document for additional discussion of the revegetation <br />seed mix. (4.18(5)(1)). ' <br />X. Operations on Alluvial Valley Floors <br />T'wo alluvial valley floor (AVF) studies were performed on Sage and Grassy <br />Creek and their tributaries in the vicinity of the proposed toast permit azea. <br />This information is found in Tab 16 of the permit application package. <br />As a result of 1992-93 AVF studies, Seneca Coal Company concluded there <br />are no AVFs in the Grassy Creek watershed in hydrollogic communication <br />with the proposed toast Mine. Based on information presented by the <br />applicant, discussions with the Routt County office of the Natur:d Resource <br />~I <br />Ymrt Minc 3$ July 6, 1995 <br />