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• ~ 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 STUDY DESCRIPTION This study was conducted between April 1984 and June 1985, to evaluate wildlife resources in the Danforth 1 and 3 leases and vicinity (Figure 1-1) in Rio Blanco and Moffat counties of northwest Colorado. The study was designed and executed in accordance with regulatory requirements of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division (CMLRD), the Office of Surface Mining (OSM), and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Complementary wildlife baseline information was gathered during the Meeker PRLA Elk Baseline Study (CDM 1984a) and related environmental studies conducted by Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. (CDM) under contract to Consolidation Coal Company (Consol). Specific objectives of this study were to determine the status of state-managed wildlife species, state and federally threatened and • endangered species, migratory birds of high federal interest, and other wildlife species within the Danforth Hills study area. Review of wildlife issues (43 CFR, Subpart 3461) by the BLM in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) prior to leasing of the Danforth 1 and 3 tracts, indicated that all lands within the study area are suitable for surface coal mining operations (BLM 1980a, 1983). Therefore, the focus of this study was definition of the extent and importance of existing habitat for state-managed wildlife as a basis for development of a habitat recovery and replacement plan in accordance with special stipulations for wildlife established in the BLM Danforth 1 and 3 lease. 1.2 REGIONAL SETTING The study area is located in the southeastern Danforth Hills (Figure 1-1), which physiographically represents a transitional area between the Wyoming Basin to the north, the southern Rocky Mountains to the east, and the • Colorado Plateau to the south and west. Regionally, the study area is bounded by the Axial Basin and Yampa River to the north and west, the White 1-1