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• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />An inventory of site-specific and regional wildlife resources of the <br />Danforth 1 and 3 Federal Coal Leases and vicinity was completed during <br />April 1984 through June 1985. Existing background information was <br />complemented by a year-long program of site-specific field studies. <br />Results of this study indicate that no critical or essential habitats for <br />federally or state-listed threatened or endangered species exist within the <br />Danforth Hills area. Although bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) were <br />commonly encountered throughout the Yampa and White River drainages during <br />winter, no nesting or important hunting habitat occur within the study <br />area. The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) occurs only as a migrant <br />within the study area. Suitable habitat for other threatened or endangered <br />species was not found within the Danforth leases or surrounding study area. <br />High priority habitat for avian species designated as Migratory Birds of <br />• High Federal Interest in the Hams Fork-Green River Coal Production Region <br />was not found within the Danforth Leases. Golden eagles (Aquila <br />chrysaetos) were commonly observed during all seasons and several active <br />and inactive nest sites were located outside boundaries of the Danforth 1 <br />and 3 leases. Red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) and Cooper's hawks <br />(Accipter cooperii) were the most common nesting raptors within the study <br />area. <br />Field surveys indicated that sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) were <br />not common or abundant within the Danforth leases, and no strutting areas <br />(leks) occurred within the study area. Blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) <br />were fairly common in mountain shrub and aspen habitats during spring <br />through fall. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and elk (Cervus elaphus) <br />were common and abundant throughout higher elevations of the study area <br />(>7,200 ft) during spring through Fall, 1983 and 1984. Deep snow <br />restricted deer and elk distribution to south aspects near the mouth of the <br />West Fork of Good Spring Creek, and along east and west aspects above the <br />• mainstem of Good Spring Creek. Several areas of elk concentration within <br />the study area were identified during the 1984 and 1985 calving seasons. <br />l <br />