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. Peak male attendance at Annan's 1 has been more variable over the years, and exhibited <br />peaks in 1997 and 2003, when 19 and 20 males were observed respectively. The lowest count at <br />the lek occurred in 1995, when only eight grouse, including at least seven males, were <br />documented. In 2006, 15 grouse were seen at the lek, including at least 10 males and two hens. <br />Male attendance at Annan's 3 generally increased from four in 1995 to a maximum of 23 <br />in 1999, then decreased substantially each year until 2002 and 2003 when no birds were observed <br />(Table 1). One grouse was seen at that site in 2004 and none were documented in 2005 or 2006. <br />Attendance at the Yoast Mine Road lek was fairly steady from 2000 to 2002, but no <br />grouse were observed there in 2003, 2004, or 2006 (Table 1). Two grouse (sexes unknown) were <br />flushed from the lek in 2005. <br />Attendance at the alternate site of the Trousdale lek has increased slightly each yeaz since <br />it was discovered in 2004. Ten males were there in 2006, with no birds at the original lek site. <br />The Fifer lek was attended by a total of 15 grouse, including at least 10 males and two <br />females, when it was discovered in 2005. In 2006, only one male was seen. The Fifer lek is less <br />• than one-half mile north of Annan's 2. <br />The exact reasons for the observed declines at most sharp-tailed grouse leks in the <br />vicinity of the Yoast Mine in recent years are unknown. The sharp decrease in male attendance <br />in 2004 may have been the result of grouse moving to other nearby and newly formed leks (i.e., <br />those discovered in 2004 and 2005). Although increased lek attendance by males is an indication <br />of increasing populations, the number of leks in an area is a better measure of a population's <br />status (Cannon and Knopf 1981). <br />No blue grouse were documented in the Yoast Mine azea by J&S biologists during 2006. <br />GOLDEN EAGLE NESTING <br />Two adjacent golden eagle nests exist on a cliff in SW'/4 SE'/< Section 7 TSN, R87W, less <br />than 1000 feet from the Yoast Mine permit boundary (Exhibit 1). Eagles nested at that site <br />during 2002 and 2003, but no nesting activity or eagles have been documented in the azea since <br />then. In 2006, biologists visited the nest on 27 April. <br /> <br />2006 Yoast Mine Wildlife Monitoring Page 10 <br />