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J.E. Stover & Associates, Inc December 5, 2007 Page 5 Portions of the Bowie No. 1 Mine permit area lie within bald eagle winter foraging range and a bald eagle winter concentration area mapped by CDOW in the North Fork River corridor (Figure 3). CDOW- mapped bald eagle roost sites exist within a few miles upstream and downstream of the mine load -out area in the North Fork River bottom. Bald eagles may forage for rodents across the open agricultural fields and fragmented shrublands of the load -out area. The southern and eastern extents of the main permit area features rimrock ledges provide attractive hunting roosts or night roosts for bald eagles. However, given the high - quality habitat available to bald eagles on the North Fork River, which provides their preferred prey (fish and waterfowl), and given the availability of a several - mile -long stretch of cottonwood galleries and potential roosts in the river bottom that are removed from mining activity, it is likely that bald eagles occur only infrequently within the mine permit boundary. The lands within the Bowie No. 1 mine permit boundary contribute only marginally to sustaining wintering bald eagle populations in the North Fork Valley. Potential impacts of the mine permit renewal to bald eagles are primarily disturbance of possible night- roosting areas around permitted surface disturbances. However, given the bald eagle's low fidelity to night roosts, and given that mine activities are limited to reclamation, such impacts are not likely to cause measurable effects on bald eagles. Water depletion in the upper Colorado River basin resulting from mine operations (road dust suppression and evaporation from sediment ponds) could potentially affect bald eagle winter foraging habitat. The effects of water depletion would depend on the extent that forage fish habitat is affected by the mine's water consumption. Nevertheless, because fish do not form the sole prey base for bald eagles in the North Fork valley, • the renewal of the mine permit is not likely to cause measurable effects on bald eagles. Yellow- billed cuckoo A small portion of the mine permit boundary provides marginal habitat for the yellow - billed cuckoo, a candidate species for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act whose preferred habitat is old- growth cottonwood forests or woodlands with dense, scrubby understories of willows or other riparian shrubs Probably never common in western Colorado, this bird is now considered an extremely rare summer resident and nearly extirpated in western Colorado. There is at least one recent report (unconfirmed) of a yellow - billed cuckoo sighting on the North Fork River near Paonia. Reasons for decline of the yellow - billed cuckoo throughout the western U.S. have been attributed to destruction of its preferred riparian habitat due to agricultural conversions, flood control projects, and urbanization. The preferred habitat of yellow - billed cuckoo is low elevation river corridors. They nest in old- growth cottonwood forests or woodlands with dense, scrubby understories of willows or other riparian shrubs. Studies in California indicate this species may need extensive stands of riparian forest for nesting success. Limited habitat in and near the permitted areas of surface disturbance (around the mine load -out) is only marginally suitable for yellow - billed cuckoo due to the narrowness of the existing riparian corridor and lack of dense riparian shrub understory component. 14 Hughes, J. M. 1999. Yellow - billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). In The Birds of North America, No. 418 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and the American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. 15 Bailey, A. M. and R. J. Niedrach. 1965. Birds of Colorado, Volumes I & II. Denver: Denver Museum of Natural History. 16 Righter, R., R. Levad, C. Dexter, and K. Potter. 2004. Birds of Western Colorado Plateau and Mesa Country. Grand Junction: Grand Valley Audubon Society. 214 pp. 17 J. Puckett. 2006. Personal communication with D. Reeder (Rare Earth Science). December 2. RARE EARTh SCIENCE, LLC