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3. Recommended critical habitat
<br /> A. Concise statement (Based on the information reviewed in this statement and
<br /> the field studies of the author, the following area is recommended for
<br /> designation as the Critical Habitat of Zapus hudsonius preblei under the
<br /> provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973): It is recommended that the
<br /> locations of most recent known capture be designated as critical habitat for this
<br /> subspecies. This would include locations, specified below under Township and
<br /> range, in the Rocky Flats Plant, Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Generating Station, Coal
<br /> Creek of the City of Boulder Open Space Department's Tracy Collins parcel, as
<br /> well as the Open Space Department's VanVleet parcel and adjacent parcels. Any
<br /> new discoveries of this subspecies should be included as critical habitat if the
<br /> subspecies is listed.
<br /> B. Legal description of boundaries- The primary historical range of Z. h. preblei
<br /> in Colorado extends southward from eastern Latimer County to eastern Boulder
<br /> County, southwestem Weld County, and western Denver and Arapahoe Counties,
<br /> and terminates in eastern Jefferson and northern Douglas County (Armstrong
<br /> 1972). In addition, the subspecies appears to have been captured near Woodburn,
<br /> El Paso County. Hence, the historical range should be extended southward, east
<br /> of the Front Range, to this location. In Wyoming, based on six study skins and
<br /> one additional record of Z. h. preblei, the historical range occurs in the
<br /> southeastem portion of the state, in the majority of Albany, Laramie and Platte
<br /> Counties, and in the southern portion of Converse County, all south of the North
<br /> Platte River (Long 1965). Known locations of critical habitat within these
<br /> historical ranges include portions of the Rocky Flats Plant, near Golden,
<br /> Colorado, Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Generating Station, near Longmont, Colorado,
<br /> and the Tracy Collins and VanVleet parcels of the City of Boulder Open Space
<br /> Department, south and east of Boulder, Colorado. Other critical habitat may exist
<br /> within the subspecies' historical range.
<br /> C. Township and range- Rocky Flats Plant is located in southern half of Sections
<br /> 2 and 3, all of Sections 10 and 11, and the northern half of Sections 14 and 15,
<br /> T 2S, R 70W. The location of critical habitat is the Woman Creek drainage,
<br /> which traverses the southern portion of Section 11. Critical habitat at the Fort St.
<br /> Vrain Nuclear Generating Station is located in Sections 27 and 34, T 4N, R 67W.
<br /> Coal Creek, of the Tracy Collins parcel, traverses the southeast portion of Section
<br /> 32, cuts diagonally (northeast) across Section 33, and traverses the southern
<br /> portion of Section 27, T 1S, R 70W. The VanVleet parcel and adjacent Open
<br /> Space land is located in the majority of Section 15, the eastern portions of
<br /> Sections 9 and 16, the northwest portion of Section 14, the southwest portion of
<br /> Section 11, and most of Section 10, and traverses the central portion of Section
<br /> 3, T 1S, R 70W, and extends to the south-central portion of Section 34, T 1N, R
<br /> 70W.
<br /> D. Publicity/sensitivity of critical habitat areas
<br /> 1. Rocky Flats Plant. The Rocky Flats Plant, a former nuclear weapons
<br /> plant, is being phased out of commission. The future of the plant and
<br /> associated buffer zone land is unknown, and a matter of public concern.
<br /> 2. Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Generating Station- The Public Service
<br /> Company of Colorado is in the process of converting the station to a
<br /> natural gas fired plant. The re-operation of this plant could positively
<br /> Final Sims Sway
<br /> Pimcc ECS.laa
<br /> Much 7A,1993 9..6
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