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2007 WILDLIFE MONITORING REPORT <br />FOR THE <br />COLLOM PERMIT AREA <br />1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />Cedar Creek Associates, Inc. (Cedar Creek) was retained by Colowyo Coal Company to <br />complete wildlife monitoring surveys for the Collom Permit Area. The wildlife study area <br />included the Collom Permit Area plus an additional 2-mile perimeter zone. The focus of the <br />wildlife monitoring surveys was on greater sage-grouse and Columbian sharp-tailed grouse <br />breeding activity and raptor nest locations. This report describes the methods used to complete <br />the monitoring surveys and summarizes the results of these surveys. <br />2.0 METHODOLOGY <br />2.1 Greater Sage-grouse and Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse Lek Surveys <br />Grouse survey methods were designed to be responsive to Colorado Division of Wildlife <br />(CDOW) guidelines for conducting grouse lek surveys and counts except that lek sites were <br />only surveyed once and were not checked on four separate occasions. Prior to initiating the lek <br />surveys, <br />lek surveys for 2007 were conducted from April 16 through April 20. A ground <br />reconnaissance of the portion of the study area to be surveyed the first morning was completed <br />the day before to confirm vehicle access and survey routes. Each subsequent morning survey <br />route was confirmed after completion of the previous early morning lek survey period. <br />Navigation of the survey routes and locating known leks was facilitated with a GPS connected to <br />a laptop computer using a GPS mapping program depicting real-time vehicle location in relation <br />to the survey routes and plotted lek locations. <br />The vehicle lek surveys consisted of an observer traveling the survey route through suitable <br />habitat during the early morning hours (0.5 hour before sunrise to 2.0 hours after sunrise; <br />approximately 6:00 to 8:30 am). Ground survey routes and survey dates for each route are <br />shown on Figures 1A and 1B. Stops were made at approximate 0.5 intervals, depending on <br />existing data on known grouse lek locations in and near the Collom Permit wildlife <br />study area were obtained from the CDOW as well as from previous wildlife studies completed <br />for the Colowyo Coal Mine. Lek UTM coordinates for known grouse lek locations were plotted <br />on digital raster graphic (DRG) 7'/2 minute USGS topographic maps of the wildlife study area <br />prior to the initiation of the lek surveys. <br />E <br />1