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plant near Bonanza, Utah and the coal corridor will not permanently destroy their habitat, mitigative measures are deemed unnecessary. White-Tailed Prairie Dog -Concern can be legitimately raised regarding the stability of the substantial prairie dog populations in the haul road and disposal site areas. Temporary habitat destruction will occur and unchecked legal shooting is a possibility; hence, the perturbation rating of 4. Although the area of projected impact is on the southern boundary of the prairie dog concentrations, mitigation will be carried out by minimizing the area of disturbance. Beaver -Beaver are found only along the White River in the area of potential impact and should not be impacted by the proposed action. The proposed water withdrawal methods should act as mitigative measures for this species. Covote -This wide ranging species readily adapts to human activity and coupled with its secretive habits is seldom forced to vacate areas of moderate human use. Increased hunting pressure is the largest potential problem, but would not seriously impact coyote population Black-footed Ferret -This much searched for but not found prime species has been of much concern for the applicant. The prairie dog populations (up to 290/hectare) on the northern boundary of the potential area of impact are believed large enough to support a small ferret population, but no ferrets were found. In addition to the 12 plus man-months spent in actual routine field work collecting terrestrial vertebrate • data in the vicinity, a concentrated two man-weeks were spent specifically in search of ferrets. This effort included observations with a Javelin 260 night vision scope plus most of the standard ferret seeking techniques proposed by Tim Clark in a paper being reviewed for publication in the Great Basin Naturalist. No ferrets were seen nor evidenced; however, this does not preclude the possibility that they might exist. It is easy to prove an organism exists, but statistically impossible to prove one does not exist, however unlikely. Since the presence of ferrets is dependent upon the perpetuation of prairie dogs, impacts will be minimized by controlled disposal and simultaneous revegetation reclamation procedures. Active dumping of waste will be restricted to only necessary areas at a time. This will promote as rapid a return to and use of the area by prairie dogs as possible Bobcat -This wide-ranging prime species is secretive and nocturnal by nature so it is rarely observed particularly in relationship to its density. However, increased demand for bobcat fur has resulted in a serious decline in population numbers and caused concern among management agencies for population stability throughout its range. This concern is heightened in areas of high or increased human use such as proposed for the coal mine area. • Mine Permit Renewal #3 (Rev. 8/99) IV-50