Laserfiche WebLink
"The FWS recommends that before any action involving <br />• the use of toxicants in or near prairie dog towns <br />begins, a survey of the area should be conducted. <br />This includes all prairie dog towns proposed for control. <br />If phosphide-treated grain, gas cartridges, or tablets <br />are the central agent, then the area to be surveyed <br />should include the prairie dog town where the proposed <br />action is located, and any other town or portion of <br />a town within one-half mile of the boundary of the <br />town proposed for treatment. If the proposed control <br />agent involves the use of any other compound including <br />those under registration with the environmental Protection <br />Agency, then the area to be surveyed for ferrets should <br />include the prairie dog town to be treated and any <br />other town or portion of a town within 1 mile of the <br />town being treated with the toxicant. This difference <br />is justified on the basis of potential hazards to <br />ferrets caused by secondary poisoning, known ferret <br />mobility, and observations of ferrets taking carrion. <br />Radio-collared black-footed ferrets have been observed <br />to move over an area of about 800 acres in a single <br />night, and the species is known to feed on all parts <br />of a dead prey carcass." <br />This ferret survey could be conducted immediately prior to poisoning <br />• and would take approximately 2-3 weeks to complete. This survey <br />could possibly function as the ferret survey which would be <br />required within one year of the commencement of construction <br />activities. <br />Ferret surveys will be required in the project area whether <br />for reservoir or mine permitting. For reservoir development, <br />the Army Corps of Engineers ( the anticipated lead agency) is <br />required to follow the recommendations of the FWS. For mine <br />development, the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board will <br />defer to the Colorado Division of Wildlife. In our issue scoping <br />meetings with the CDOW, they identified a need to survey for <br />ferrets (Appendix A). <br />The second study involves the monitoring of seasonal raptor <br />populations (including bald eagles) in and around Dowe Flats. <br />The purpose of such a study, which would be ongoing, would be <br />to establish the level of raptor use on the permit area, on <br />a seasonal and interannual basis, and determine the importance <br />of Dowe Flats as a hunting area relative to other adjacent, <br />off-site areas. Such a monitoring program should be conducted <br />over a long time scale to account for changes in raptor use <br />due to fluctuations in the prairie dog prey base. Limited data <br />are available for winter raptor use of Dowe Flats in past years; <br />however, because prairie dog management is scheduled for fall <br />• 17 <br />