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1 Black-footed Ferre[ Repon Dowe Fla[s Project <br />the second night, no precipitation occurred. Winds were calm, except for a brief period on <br />the first night when several gusts rose to 15 mph. <br />Table 2 summarizes wildlife species (1 amphibian, 1 reptile, 12 bird, and 14 mammal) <br />' detected during surveys. The listed species are common associates of prairie dog <br />communities. Some species (e.g., blue grosbeak, raccoon, domestic cat) were detected where <br />' prairie habitat transitioned into riparian and residential areas. Badgers, coyotes, and great <br />horned owls, predators of prairie dogs and, potentially, ferrets, were detected in the study <br />area on each night. <br />' S.3 EVALUATION OF DOWE FLATS AS A POTENTIAL BLACK-FOOTED <br />FERRET REINTRODUCTION SITE <br />' Prairie dog towns or complexes larger than 1,000 acres, such as Dowe Flats, are potentially <br />' important to black-footed ferret recovery and receive special consideration by the USFWS <br />as reintroduction sites. Although Dowe Flats represents one of the largest prairie dog towns <br />' in Boulder County, this town and the rest of this prairie dog complex are privately owned, <br />surrounded by increasing urbanization and human use, and relatively small compared to <br />complexes on the Pawnee and Comanche National Grasslands, in the San Luis Valley and <br />the Paonia-Hotchkiss area, and in the northwest part of the state near the Utah border. <br />Following mining the long term availability of Dowe Flats as prairie dog habitat is uncertain <br />' due to continued private ownership. These factors depreciate the suitability of Dowe Flats <br />as a ferret reintroduction site. <br />1 <br />' S.4 MINING AND SUBSEQUENT FERRET SURVEYS <br />' As the mine incrementally progresses north up the valley over the project's 25 year life, <br />approximately 10-12 acres of additional prairie dog acreage would be disturbed each year. <br />' Over such a long time period, it is possible, though unlikely, that ferrets could colonize <br />previously cleared prairie dog habitat in Dowe Flats. This suggests the need for additional <br />surveys prior to the small mining advances. However, the intensity of these surveys can <br />probably be reduced from those required for initial clearance surveys based upon (1) the <br />absence of ferret sightings in this part of the state, (2) the proximity of local and extensive <br />' urbanization in the Denver Metropolitan Clearance Area (approximately 16 miles south, (3) <br />the absence of ferrets located in Dowe Flats during the 1994 clearance surveys, (4) Dowe <br />' Wes[ern Ecrosys~ems, Inc. t3 November, 1994 <br />