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J.E. Stover & Associates, Inc <br />December 5, 2007 <br />Page 7 <br />denning period and may move kittens in response to disturbance, thereby increasing the chances of <br />mortality. <br />Within the Bowie No. 1 permit boundary, preferred denning and foraging habitats are lacking. <br />Mature or old growth stands of lodgepole pine and spruce -fir (preferred denning habitats) and early - <br />seral stage stands (foraging habitats) are not supported. The small portion of the permit area <br />mapped by CDOW as potential lynx habitat (Figure 3) consists primarily of aspen forest or <br />woodland with less than 30 percent conifers. <br />Due to lack of preferred denning and foraging habitat, use of the mine permit area by lynx is <br />expected to be limited to occasional transitory individuals. The proposed renewal of the Bowie No. 1 <br />mine permit would not result in any losses of preferred habitat or in the fragmentation of blocks of <br />suitable habitat for lynx. There is no effect to lynx or lynx habitat since renewal of the Bowie No. 1 <br />mine permit would not affect the structure, composition, or distribution of existing lynx denning or <br />forage habitat. Lynx are not expected to move into mine permit boundary from reintroduction sites <br />in the foreseeable future. Therefore, relative risks to individual lynx are predicted to be very low. <br />The relative risk to lynx population recovery in LAUs and wilderness areas to the north due to the <br />Bowie No. 1 Mine permit renewal is also predicted to be very low. <br />Northern river otter <br />The northern river otter, listed as endangered in 1975 and down - listed to threatened in 2003 under <br />16 the Colorado Nongame, Threatened, or Endangered Species Conservation Act , 22 may occupy the <br />reach of the North Fork River near the mine load -out area and at the road bridge crossing (Figure <br />3). The river otter historically occupied every major river drainage in Colorado, but was presumed <br />extirpated from the state by the early 1900s as a result of unregulated fur trapping. Beginning in <br />1976, the CDOW began re- introducing river otters into several river systems around the state, <br />including the Gunnison, with apparent success. River otters have been sighted in the North Fork of <br />the Gunnison River corridor approximately 8 miles downstream of the mine load -out area within the <br />past four years (Reeder, personal observation). <br />A pair of river otters requires approximately 1.5 to 8 miles of stream or shoreline depending on prey <br />resources, and stream flow of at least 50 cfs. Other requirements are food resources (fish, small <br />mammals), good water quality, riparian vegetation providing at least 50 percent cover along banks, <br />and other cover in or along streams such as woody debris or boulders. Bank stability and <br />maintenance of floodplain structure provide opportunities for denning. The river corridor within and <br />near the mine load -out area (Figures 2 and 3) provides feeding habitat for river otter, and may <br />provide a suitable denning site for a single pair, although more secluded denning sites are available <br />upstream or downstream of the mine permit boundary where the forested riparian corridor is much <br />wider. Because the mine is in reclamation and very little mine - related activity is taking place near <br />the river corridor, and because the portion of the mine permit boundary within and near the river <br />corridor represents a fraction of the home range of a pair of river otters, the effect of the mine permit <br />renewal on the continued existence of river otters is expected to be extremely low. <br />21 Koehler, G. M. and K.B. Aubry. 1994. The scientific basis for conserving forest carnivores: American marten, fisher, lynx, and <br />wolverine in the western United States. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. General Tech. <br />Report RM 254. 184pp. <br />22 Boyle, S. (2006). North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis): a technical conservation assessment. [Online]. USDA Forest <br />Service, Rocky Mountain Region. Available: http: / /www.fs.fed.us /r2 /projects /scp/ assessments /northamericanriverotter.pdf [accessed on <br />June 27, 2007]. <br />RARE EARTH SdENCE, LLC <br />