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LINED LAND WILDLIFE STATEMENT/EVALUATION <br />For limited impact and select regular mine applications <br />The following information pertaining to wildlife is provided for <br />use by Mined Land Reclamation Board in their consideration of a <br />mining permit for: <br />Name/Type and Location of Mine (Legal) <br />Wildlife Species List: <br />The permit area is occupied by black-tailed prairie dogs. It is <br />likely that swift foxes, coyotes, western rattlesnakes, ferruginous <br />hawks, and golden eagles utilize the prairie dogs on the permit <br />area. Both burrowing owls and pronghorn were seen on site during <br />the summer of 2007. <br />Endangered/Critical Species/Impacted: <br />Black-tailed prairie dogs, ferruginous hawks, and swift foxes are <br />all state species of concern. Burrowing owls are state threatened. <br />Critical Habitats/Vegetative Communities Impacted: <br />The site consists of short grass prairie surrounded by <br />cropland and other short grass prairie pastures. The 160 acre <br />permit area is relatively flat with the exception of the southern <br />end of the pasture. The southern end of the permit area includes <br />a small ridge. The permit application indicates that the <br />majority of the mining will occur in the SW quarter of the NW <br />quarter of Section 10. The ridge is located in that <br />quarter/quarter section. <br />The site's cover vegetation predominately consists of <br />buffalo-grass (Buchloe dactyloides) and blue grama (Bouteloua <br />gracilis). The pasture has been heavily grazed by livestock and <br />black-tailed prairie dogs. The southern ridge is also covered <br />with little bluestem (Sch.izachyrium scoparium) and snakeweed <br />(Gutierrezia sarothrae). <br />Assessment of Impact: <br />The caliche ridge has less value to the above mentioned <br />species than the rest of the pasture. Black-tailed prairie dogs do <br />occupy the ridge, but in low numbers. The cover vegetation found <br />on the ridge is generally beneficial to nesting grassland birds, <br />but the steep slope of the ridge would discourage those species <br />from nesting. <br />If the surface extraction occurs in the indicated <br />quarter/quarter section, the wildlife impacts may be minimal. <br />The negative impacts to wildlife will be much greater jA m ni <br />activity is to be distributed across the entir 160 cre pArrmit <br />area. If the entire permit area is mined, the site will lose <br />most of its value to wildlife until the time it's reclaimed.