Laserfiche WebLink
Gorencilo Canyon Mine -Wildlife Technical Report <br />• coexist within Colorado, the potential for Texas horned lizards to occur within the permit area is <br />limited. <br />Mountain Plover <br />Mountain plovers utilize high, dry, shortgrass prairies. Within these habitats, areas of blue <br />gramma and buffalograss are most often utilized. In addition, areas of mixed grass associations <br />dominated by needle-and-thread and blue gramma are also utilized (Armbruster 1983). <br />Nests consist of a small scrape on flat ground in open areas. Most nests are placed on slopes of <br />less than 5 degrees, and occur in aeeas of buffalograss, blue gramma, scattered cacti, and western <br />wheatgrass. These areas typically support vegetation that is less than 3 inches tall in April. Within <br />Colorado more than half of identified nests occurred within 12 inches of old cow manure piles and <br />almost 20 percent were found against old manure piles. In addition, nests in Montana were nearly <br />always associated with the grazed shortgrass of prairie dog colonies (Armbruster, 1983). <br />The CDOW has identified mountain plover habitat within Las Anirnas County, east of Interstate <br />25 (CDOW, 1996e). This is well outside the permit area. Although blue gramma and western <br />wheatgrass does occur within the permit area these aeeas are limited and aze probably greater than <br />three inches in height in April. Based on these considerations, the potential for mountain plover <br />• to occur within the permit area is low. <br />Southwestern Willow Flycatcher <br />The southwestern willow flycatcher is afederally-listed endangered species. The flycatcher is a <br />neotropical migrant. Neotropical migrants are species that breed in the United States but winter <br />south of the United States. Although flycatchers tray breed in Colorado, Arizona, California, and <br />New Mexico comprise the rnajority of the historic and current range of the flycatcher. <br />Flycatchers typically nest in cottonwood-willow associations. These areas are generally along <br />streams, rivers, or other wetland areas where dense stands of willow, seepwillow, arrowweed <br />buttonbrush, or other shrubs and medium-sized trees occur. These areas also may contain an <br />overstory of cottonwoods. Within these areas surface water or saturated soils is almost always <br />present in or adjacent to nesting areas during the breeding season. Nests are generally located in <br />thickets of shrubs or trees that are approximately 13 to 23 feet tall with a high percentage of <br />canopy cover, and a large volume of foliage from the ground level to 13 feet above ground. Nest <br />building and egg laying typically begin in late May and eazly June with the young fledgling in late <br />June and early July (Tibbets et al., 1994). <br />The FWS has determined that suitable habitat for the flycatcher in Colorado must contain the <br />following components: a riparian shrub habitat at least 30 feet wide, 30 feet long and 5 feet high <br />along streams with a gradient of 4 percent or less, these areas must occur below 8500 feet in <br />• elevation. In addition, these areas must occur within the established range as provided by the <br />Wildlife.d75lDecember Il, 1996 26 <br />