REP08101 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES • The only threatened or endangered species known to inhabit the project area is the bald eagle (federal and state endangered). Bald eagles are winter visitors or winter residents which congregate in Dowe Flats and in other surrounding areas to steal prairie dogs from ferruginous hawks. Up to 14 eagles have been seen in Dowe Flats. As mentioned above, the potential impact of reservoir development on prairie dogs and seasonal raptor use will be one of the significant wildlife issues. Bald eagles will be a focal point of that issue. The Johnny darter, a small state threatened fish, may inhabit St. Vrain Creek, adjacent to the project area. This species and possibly other sensitive fishes which occur downstream in the St. Vrain and in other creeks and rivers where waters are diverted for impoundment in Dowe Flats, will have to be addressed in light of potential development conflicts. Black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes, federal and state endangered), peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus, federal and state endangered), whooping cranes Grus americana, federal endangered), interior least terns (Sterna antillarum spp., federal endangered), piping plovers (Charadrius melodus, federal threatened in the area of concern), will have to be addressed along with bald eagles in the Biological Assessment for the FWS. The prairie • dog towns on and adjacent to the project area will have to be surveyed for ferrets under current federal guidelines (FWS 1986) (see additional discussion below). The project area is outside the normal hunting range of nesting peregrine falcons, it contains no suitable nesting habitat on-site or in the immediate facility, and hunting habitat/prey populations on-site are relatively poor. Peregrines should be one of the easier "T6E" species to deal with in the Biological Assessment. The three remaining species have been identified because of potential water depletions downstream along the South Platte River. Virtually all projects in the headwaters of the Platte River system, which may affect water depletion downstream, trigger consideration of these three species. The FWS required that these three birds be studied for possible effects associated with the proposed Two Fork Reservoir. Provided specific mitigation was enacted, the FWS ruled that Two Forks would not jeopardize any of those species. WILDLIFE-DEVELOP!lENT ISSIIES The wildlife-development issues identified below were developed through on-site consultations with representatives of the FWS, CDOW, and Boulder County. Issues range from direct, on-site impacts to secondary and cumulative impacts hundreds of miles downstream along the South Platte River. Our goal at these • 11