Bluestone and Section 16 Wildlife Lssua Report Walern Aggrcgala, Inc.
<br />1 be limited to, killdeer (Charadrius vociferous), mourning dove (Zereaida macroura), common
<br />nighthawk (Chordeiles minor), western meadowlark (Stumella neglecta), Brewer's sparrow
<br />' (Spizella breweri), grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savanltantm), vesper sparrow
<br />(Poocetes gramilleus), and lark sparrow (Chorldestes grammacus).
<br />' "Take" vrill be avoided by scheduling ground breaking of new areas to be mined. With the
<br />possible exception of killdeer, and even more remotely, nighthawks, none of the above
<br />' ground nesting birds would be expected to attempt nesting on an area stripped of its
<br />vegetation and topsoil. Therefore, vegetation and topsoil would be stripped from areas to
<br />be mined within the current year before May 1 (before nesting commences). If that occurs,
<br />' mining may commence in that area, and in any other previously disturbed areas, during the
<br />bird breeding season. In the event such stripping does not occur on or before April 30,
<br />' disturbance to the proposed mining area may not occur until after July 15, by which time
<br />young-o1'-the-year from nests on the future mining area should have fledged.
<br />1
<br />' 4.4 HIGH BIODIVERSITY VALUES OF AFFECTED HABITATS
<br />The USDOE (Anonymous 1994, Wienand 1994a, b) and CDOW (Weber 1994, Howard
<br />' 1994) raised issues relating to unique and high value habitats and their interspersion, either
<br />on mining areas or down gradient from them. The following discussion will be confined to
<br />wildlife habitats and values.
<br />' Areas down gradient from the Bluestone and Section 16 mining areas do contain some
<br />' relativel}~ uncommon, though certainly not "unique", hydrologic characteristics compared to
<br />most other foothill/ pediment situations along the Front Range. For example, a similar array
<br />occurs north of Boulder, mostly east of Highway 36. The only difference between these and
<br />' other areas is that those within the buffer zone are under one, conservatively managed,
<br />surface ownership, while those north of Boulder, and probably in other areas, are
<br />fragmented by private ownership, which, in some, if not most cases, has lead to the
<br />' degradation of associated vegetation.
<br />' The woody and other mesic plant species associated with these hydrologic outcrops are also
<br />not unique. These plants are generally common and widespread.
<br />' The wildlife diversity associated with the maximum interspersion of these woody and other
<br />habitats is relatively high, partly as a result of habitat type, structure, interspersion, and block
<br />' size, but also due to conservative management, isolation from human disturbance, and the
<br />refuge effect of the buffer zone. Nevertheless, there are other communities in the
<br />surrounding area that support a greater abundance of these wildlife species (e.g., Dowdy
<br />' Draw to the west, where the same woody plants occurs in stands rather than linear strips)
<br />and a greater diversity of wildlife species (e.g., Coal Creek and South Boulder Creek, which
<br />
<br />Walern Ecoxyslems, Inc Zt December, 1994
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