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15 <br />• <br /> <br />i <br /> There has not been a thorough census of fish populations in the <br /> Purgatoire River system in recent times. A census in Trinidad Lake <br /> (Bennett, pers. comm. 1980) revealed over 95 percent white suckers <br /> (Catostomas comnersoniJ but few Brown Trout (Sa Lno truttaJ and creek <br /> chubs (SamotiZus atromaculatus). Information on fish in the vicinity <br /> of tfie Maxwell and Allen mines is entirely observational. However, I <br /> contacted Bob Holder, Colorado Division of Wildlife District Wildlife <br /> Manager at Weston; Jack Vayhinger, Colorado Division of Wildlife <br /> Biologist at Colorado Springs and Stanley Baron, Jr., rancher and CFSI <br /> employee at lJeston. All stated that the only fish species present in <br /> the stretch of the Purgatoire River from the Allen Mine to the Maxwell <br /> Mine are Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout (Satmo gairdneriJ and white suckers. <br />~• Holder (pers. comm. 1980) estimates that 95 percent <br />of the fish he checks <br /> , <br /> in fishermen's creels in the vicinity of Stonewall are Brown Trout, the <br /> rest are Rainbow Trout. The farthest upstream that he has seen suckers <br /> is in the river adjacent to the Maxwell Mine. 'Whether this distribution <br /> is related to the mine operations or to natural phenomena is not known. <br /> Impacts of Mining Operations <br /> Wildlife <br />Portions of the habitats of some species have been unsur•ped by <br />maintenance and operational roads, holding ponds, refuse piles, buildings <br />and other structures. Movement of machines, trucks and other vehicles <br />will have some effect on wildlife in the inmediate vicinity. Quanti- <br />tatively, the impact will be greatest on species of low mobility (i.e., <br />with small home ranges) and "obligates" (those animals with very specifc <br />