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Black-footed Ferret Report Dowe Flats Project nocturnal clearance survey the prior summer, strip topsoil in the impact area, then establish an exclusion barrier around the impact area. Any prairie dogs that entered the exclusion ' area before site disturbance would be bulldozed during subsequent overburden removal. If winter surveys are conducted, the buffer zone surrounding the proposed impact area (i.e., 10 acres) would have a 0.5 mile radius. A larger radius can be rationalized because of the extended intervals between surveys and the relative ease (probably totalling only 12 man- hours/ replication) of surveying a larger surrounding buffer. The USFWS would be notified and familiarized with the project's ferret protocol before surveys were initiated. This clearance would cover virtually all prairie dog acreage in the valley, depending on the time elapsed since the last plague epizootic. With diurnal surveys there would also be less need ' to immediately control prairie dogs within the impact area because of theoretical ferret emigration. The USFWS could be contacted following the third replication (with negative results) for verbal authorization to control expansion area prairie dogs, or a report could be prepared and submitted to the USFWS for concurrence before prairie dog control. 5.4.3 TERMINATION OF FERRET SURVEYS ' There have been no ferret sightings in this part of the Colorado since at least the early ' 1950's. Extensive urbanization associated with the Denver Metropolitan Clearance Area, where ferret surveys are no longer required, occurs approximately 16 miles south of the ' project area. Many of the same development pressures within the clearance area are occurring locally. Dowe Flats represents the vast majority of potential black-footed ferret habitat within the local complex where any ferrets should have gravitated. There are no ' other nearby, sizeable prairie dog towns that would likely constitute a ferret emigration source for Dowe Flats. The prairie dog towns on reclaimed areas of the existing mine ' [approximately 2 miles south of the Dowe Flats town] are considered isolated from Dowe Flats by unsuitable habitat, the St. Vrain Creek, and Highway 66. Therefore, since no ferrets ' were located in Dowe Flats during initial comprehensive clearance surveys, and assuming that no ferrets are located during 2 surveys of mine expansion areas, Southwestern requests that the remainder of the incremental impact areas within their Permit Area containing prairie dogs be considered cleared of the need for further ferret surveys for the remaining life of the mine. 1 Western Ecosystems, Inc. 16 November, 1994