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Sage Creek Mine February 2009 <br />• 1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />In spring 2008, ICF Jones & Stokes was contracted by Peabody Energy (Peabody) to conduct a <br />habitat assessment and baseline wildlife surveys at the proposed Sage Creek Mine in western <br />Routt County, Colorado. Those surveys were conducted in spring and summer 2008 in an effort to <br />collect both qualitative and quantitative data on species occurrence, relative abundance, and <br />habitat affinities within the Sage Creek Mine permit area, the broader study area, and the <br />appropriate wildlife perimeters (i.e., buffers) surrounding the mine. In addition, much of the Sage <br />Creek Mine permit and study areas overlap the permit and wildlife monitoring areas for two existing <br />and reclaimed Peabody surface coal mines, the Seneca II and Yoast Mines. ICF Jones & Stokes <br />has provided the annual wildlife monitoring services for the Seneca II and Yoast Mines from 1994 <br />to 2008, and the relevant historical data from the Seneca II and Yoast monitoring efforts has been <br />included within this report. Wildlife data collected in the region by the Colorado Division of Wildlife <br />(CDOW) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have also been incorporated, as <br />appropriate. <br />The Sage Creek Mine, Seneca II, and Yoast Mine wildlife monitoring programs are designed with <br />• input from the CDOW to comply with the Regulatory Requirements under the Colorado Division of <br />Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (CDRMS) guidelines for fish and wildlife issues. These guidelines <br />outline possible wildlife considerations, survey methods, and mitigation measures, as well as <br />describe the general data presentation necessary in wildlife baseline documents. As per these <br />recommendations and the required wildlife baseline studies at the Sage Creek Mine, this report <br />details the wildlife study area, the survey methods, and the historical data and most recent survey <br />results for 1) winter aerial big game surveys, 2) grouse lek monitoring and searching, 3) raptor nest <br />monitoring and searching, and 4) surveys for threatened and endangered species and special <br />concern species. Descriptions of the wildlife habitats in the area and their extent are also <br />presented. No quantitative surveys for breeding birds, waterfowl, small mammals, mammalian <br />predators, furbearers, reptiles, amphibians, or fish were required or conducted specifically for the <br />Sage Creek Mine baseline study. However, ICF Jones & Stokes biologists noted the presence of <br />all species during species specific surveys. <br />2.0 STUDY AREA <br />The proposed Sage Creek Mine is located approximately 9.0 miles southeast of Hayden, Routt <br />• County, Colorado in the foothills of the Williams Fork Mountains and south of the Yampa River. <br />1 <br />