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<br />' 6.4.8 Exhibit H -Wildlife Information <br />' Wildlife Assessment <br />' Sire Description <br />Savage and Savage conducted a wildlife assessment for the Northern Colorado <br />Constructors, Inc. Pit #1 site on September 5, 2001. The site investigation consisted of a <br />pedestrian and vehicle inspection of approximately 100 acres located within the E'/zSE'/a <br />of Section 24, Township 2 North, Range 67 West of the Sixth Prime Meridian, Weld <br />' County, Colorado (see General Location Map). The property is bounded on the east by <br />Weld County Road 25, on the south by Weld County Road 18, and on the west and north <br />by a fence line. We accessed the property via an existing road that enters on the northeast <br />' corner and an existing road that enters on the southwest comer. Both of these roads are <br />used to maintain oil and gas resources on the site. <br />The weather during our site investigation was warm and dry with the high temperature <br />around 89°F. The average elevation of the site is 4860 feet and the property is essentially <br />Flat. The South Platte River is a perennial drainage that is located approximately one-half <br />' mile east of the site. The dominant soils of the site are aquolls and aquents and Bankard <br />sandy loam (USDA, 1980). <br />' The site is a mix of dry uplands and marshlands. The uplands are dominated by pasture <br />grass and weedy species. Specific species found in the uplands include smooth brome <br />(Bromus inermis), cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), and several species of wheatgrass <br />' (Agropyron sp.). Marshlands are found throughout the site. A jurisdictional wetland <br />delineation conducted in 2000 concluded there are approximately 32.1 acres of wetlands <br />' on the site (Queen of the River Fisheries, 2000). Vegetation within the marshlands <br />includes cattail (Typha latijolia), three-square (Scirpus americarrus), Baltic rush (Jwrcus <br />balticus), and spike rush (Eleocharis pa/us[ris). A few plains cottonwoods (Populus <br />deltotdes) are found along wet marshy areas, but the majority are located in the dry <br />uplands. A clump of approximately 50 cottonwood trees is located within the northeast <br />corner of the site and a second smaller clump of approximately 15 cottonwood trees is <br />' located within the northwest corner of the site. Of the trees located within the northwest <br />corner of the site approximately one-third are senescent. <br />Significant Wildlife Resources <br />Tables 1, 2, and 3 list wildlife species that potentially occur on-site according to the <br />' Colorado Distribution Latilong Studies (CDOW, 1981, 1990, 1998). The latilong studies <br />address mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. <br />' During our site investigation we encountered a number of avian species. Two immature <br />Swainson's hawks were seen perching in the northwest clump of cottonwood Vees and on <br />utility lines along the east boundary of the site. Other identified bird species included <br />' mallards (Anus platyrhynchos), killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), mourning doves <br />1 <br />