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There are no streams in the project area that support viable fisheries. <br />' There is limited suitable habitat for some USFS listed Sensitive wildlife species. <br />Sensitive species observed were American marten, peregrine falcon, northern goshawk, <br />purple martin, northern harrier, olive-sided flycatcher and northern leopard frog. The <br />limited amount of habitat removed will have no impact on these and other sensitive <br />species. All USFS Sensitive Species are addressed in this report. <br />Rocky Mountain thistle was the only USFS listed Sensitive plant species observed. A <br />number of these plants were found on a road fill in the Lick Creek drainage. Proposed <br />activity in the project area will not have an impact on this species. <br />' USFS listed Management Indicator Species do occur in the project area. Of these, only <br />elk, Merriam's wild turkey, red-naped sapsucker, American marten and Northern <br />goshawk were observed. Elk, red-naped sapsuckers and Merriam's turkey are commonly <br />observed in the area and the limited amount of habitat affected will not adversely affect <br />these species. Habitat on USFS lands for other listed MIS species is limited or lacking. <br />All MIS are addressed in the MIS section of this report. <br />Raptor nesting is common in aspen habitat in the project area. Most of the nesting that <br />' does occur is in drainages where there are aspen stringers and not in the larger stands of <br />aspen. Raptor nesting rarely occurs in Gambel oak/mountain shrub habitat and none were <br />found during these surveys. Most proposed drill sites and access roads are located in <br />' mountain shrub habitat where there is little or no chance of raptor nesting. There are <br />large expanses of aspen where nesting can occur and the removal of a few trees for pads <br />and roads would not be expected to affect nesting activity. Spruce-fir is very limited and <br />is located generally where pad and road construction would be limited, reducing the <br />potential impacts on raptor nesting in these areas. <br />' Many species of neotropical birds were observed during breeding bird surveys. Habitat <br />for these species is not limited in the project area. The minor amount of habitat to be <br />disturbed will not affected the viability of any of these species. <br />Other species of wildlife observed are common in the area. The large expanses of suitable <br />habitat in comparison to the small amounts of habitat that will be disturbed by the <br />proposed operations means that the viability of these species within the project area will <br />not be affected. <br />' PROJECT AREA <br />The project encompassed an area of approximately 12 square miles. Land ownership in <br />' the project area includes National Forest and private. Project area boundaries are shown <br />on Figure 1. (Vegetation Communities, Raptor and Purple Martin Nests) <br />' Within the project area there are several different vegetation types, as well as other <br />habitat such as a few sandstone outcrops that could, although it is doubtful, be used by <br />2