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<br />(__2_0b8 -eg <br />United States Department of the Interior <br />FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE <br />Ecological Services <br />764 Horizon Drive, Building B <br />Grand Junction, Colorado 81506-3946 <br />IN REPLY REFER TO <br />TAILS 654113 2 06 FO151 <br />January 30, 2009 FED o? Kec?ama0n° <br />Memorandum <br />To: Field Manager, Bureau of Land Management, Grand Junction Field Office, <br />Grand Junction, Colorado <br />From: Acting Western Colorado Superviso and Wildlife Service, Ecological <br />Services, Gran d Junction, Colorado <br />Subject: Final Biological Opinion for the Red Cliff Mine Expansion Project <br />This memorandum is in response to your September 15, 2008, letter and attached <br />biological assessment (BA) for the Red Cliff Coal Mine received in our office September <br />16, 2008. In accordance with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as <br />amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the Interagency Cooperation Regulations <br />(50 CFR 402), this document transmits the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) <br />biological opinion on the Red Cliff Mine Expansion Project and its effects on the <br />endangered Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), humpback chub (Gila cypha)., <br />bonytail (Gila elegans), and razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) and their critical <br />habitats. <br />This biological opinion is based primarily on our review of the information you provided, <br />including the estimated average annual water depletion. Copies of this opinion should be <br />provided to the applicant because the conservation measures have been included as <br />conditions of any authorization issued by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for <br />this project. <br />With respect to critical habitat, this biological opinion does not rely on the regulatory <br />definition of "destruction or adverse modification" of critical habitat at 50 CFR 402.02. <br />Instead, we have relied upon the statutory provisions of the ESA to complete the <br />following analysis. <br />The BA included a determination that the project may affect, but is not likely to adversely <br />affect, the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). We concur with this determination <br />based on the fact that white-tailed prairie dog habitat may be suitable habitat for the <br />black-footed ferret, however, the ferret is highly unlikely to naturally colonize the project