1997-06-13_REPORT - M1981302 (12)

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City of Boulder Open Space lands endured intensive grazing, farming,or haying regimes until they became part of the City of Boulder Open Space system. Grazing and having continue on sites supporting Preble's, largely as land management tools. Impacts of current management practices to Preble's and their habitats are unknown. Given the relatively low numbers of Preble's found during recent surveys of City of Boulder Open Space sites, continuation of any land management practices detrimental to Preble's and their habitat may contribute to extirpation from these sites. Implications of the Listing Our understanding is that during the comment period all federal actions or actions occurring on federal lands must assume that the species has been listed as endangered. This will require that consultation under section 7 of the ESA must take place and that the development of reasonable and prudent alternatives to avoid adverse impacts to the species will need to be developed. Section 7 requires a formal consultation between the Service and the federal agency making the decision to develop reasonable and prudent alternatives to avoid adverse impacts to listed species. Actions not requiring a federal action or actions on non-federal lands are not covered until a final rule is promulgated within the next year. Our understand is also that once a final rule is issued and if Preble's is listed as either threatened or endangered, all actions on either public or private land will be subject to section 9 of the ESA. Section 9 prohibits the taking or harm to threatened or endangered species or their habitat. Section 9 also requires permits to be obtained for Preble's surveying and that surveyors must be registered with the Service. For any federal action or action on federal lands the ESA requires consultation under section 7, regardless of whether the action is on federal, state, county, or private lands so long as the action may impact the survival and recovery of Preble's. Federally listing Preble's will require all federal agencies to consider potential impacts to Preble's prior to approval of any activity authorized or permitted by them (e.g., Clean Water Act's section 404 permits, grazing management, bioremediation and hazardous materials cleanup, mining permitting and expansion, highway construction, etc.). According to the Service, even Nationwide 404 permits will be subject to consultation under Section 7. Any City action that may require federal agency approval can become subject to consultation under section 7 of the ESA. Actions specifically identified by the Service that may adversely impact Preble's include removing, thinning or altering vegetation; implementing livestock grazing management that alters vegetation during warm seasons; construction of roads or hiking/biking trails along or through riparian areas and flood plains; channelization and other alteration of perennial and intermittent streams and their hydrological regimes for flood control and other water management purposes; permanent and temporary damming of streams to create water storage reservoirs or deviate the