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West Elk Mine <br />• Underground mining in the permit area is unlikely to adversely affect lynx because lynx <br />are absent or very rare in the permit area, the permit area is at the periphery of lynx <br />habitat and range, little high-quality habitat exists in the permit area, and lynx habitat is <br />naturally fragmented. <br />None of the four species of endangered Colorado River fishes are known to presently or <br />historically occur in the North Fork of the Gunnison River. The Colorado pikeminnow, <br />razorback sucker, and humpback chub inhabit the Gunnison and Colorado rivers below <br />the confluence with the North Fork. The bonytail occurs in the Colorado River well <br />downstream from Colorado. USFWS has designated critical habitat for the four <br />endangered species (USFWS, 1994), which in Colorado includes the 100-year floodplain of <br />the upper Colorado River from Rifle downstream, and the Gunnison River from Delta to <br />Grand Junction. <br />USFWS bas determined that any water depletion to the Colorado River Basin is likely to <br />adversely affect the four endangered fish (P. Gelatt, USFWS, personal communication <br />2003). The USFWS Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program evaluates <br />depletion proposals, and in general permits depletions but requires a depletion fee to <br />support recovery efforts. On July 8, 1997, USFWS issued an intro-Service Biological <br />Opinion (BO) determining that the depletion fee for withdrawals of 100 acre-feet or less are <br />no longer required, and such depletions are permitted under the Endangered Species Act <br />without further mitigation. As stated in the Hydrology Description 2.04.7, MCC does not <br />anticipate any depletions regarding mining South of the Divide in E Seam. <br />State Listed Species <br />Species listed by the Colorado Wildlife Commission as threatened or endangered (CDOW, <br />2004) that could potentially occur in the permit area are listed on Exhibit 38. The bald <br />eagle and Canada lynx were discussed above under federally listed species. The wolverine <br />requires very large areas of relatively undisturbed habitat, and is apparently extirpated in <br />Colorado. The river otter occurs in the Gunnison River but is not known to permanently <br />inhabit the North Fork. CDOW has mapped suitable river otter habitat in the North Fork <br />throughout the permit area. Underground mining in the permit area is unlikely to <br />adversely impact any of these state listed species. <br />Rare or Sensitive Species <br />American peregrine falcons nest on cliffs and forage over adjacent forests and riparian <br />areas. Peregrines are occasionally seen in the North Fork Valley where a few nest sites are <br />known well away from the permit area. Peregrines have been sighted in the permit area, <br />and low cliffs in the area may provide suitable nest sites although none have been recorded. <br />Northern goshawks nest in dense coniferous forests, often on slopes and up to 10,000 feet <br />elevation (I{ingery, 1998). Goshawk nests have been found in the region in aspen and <br />mixed conifer-aspen forests (Wang, 2002), but no goshawk nests are known from the <br />• permit area, where nesting habitat is limited by the small size of suitable forest patches. <br />1.04-179 Revised November 1004 PRIO <br />