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MITIGATION TO WILDLIFE IMPACTS <br />Greater sage-grouse: The physical loss of habitat is of critical concern for the CDOW. The ridge <br />tops within the Collom expansion area are traditional brood rearing and summer/fall habitat for a <br />very large number of birds from throughout Axial Basin. The sensitivity of GSG with the ESA <br />listing status of "warranted but precluded" places protection of habitat and bird populations as a <br />priority for the CDOW. The CDOW offers these potential mitigation measures for offsetting <br />impacts to sage grouse: <br />o Conversion of the wheat fields located in the triangle of Moffat County Roads 17,133 and <br />32 (Morgan Gulch, Jubb Creek, Collom Gulch) to suitable sage grouse habitat. By <br />converting these fields with sage grouse friendly mix of sage brush, forbs and grasses, <br />new habitat can be created in areas where bird activity is documented in the lands <br />adjacent to these identified areas. Of primary importance to CDOW is offsetting the loss <br />of extremely important brood rearing and summer/fall habitat found within the Collom <br />pit boundary. Restoration of the wheat fields identified herein, particularly low-lying <br />areas that could be restored to mesic meadow habitat, holds great potential to offset loss <br />of the mesic, higher elevation sites in the Danforth Hills identified for mine expansion. <br />This restoration work could also support nesting and winter usage. Similar practice could <br />also be applied to the wheat fields located by the Gossard Load-out and Gossard Ranch <br />area. <br />o Maintaining continuous corridors and pockets of suitable habitat in the permitted mine <br />boundary. <br />o Installation of raptor perch deterrent structures on all power poles, and similar structures, <br />within the mine permit boundary. <br />o Minimizing noise levels through administrative or engineering methodologies. <br />o Utilize proper livestock grazing techniques of sage grouse habitat in off-site areas that is <br />friendly to GSG. <br />o Utilize post mining reclamation efforts in re-creating suitable sage grouse habitat in the <br />areas where such habitat existed. <br />o Avoid the use of aggressive non-native grasses, forbs and shrubs in seed mixes. <br />o Place marking flags on fences to minimize grouse-fence collisions. <br />o Treat stock water ponds, settling/evaporation ponds, open water storage structures, etc <br />that promote a breeding environment for mosquitoes so effective measures can be <br />implemented to prevent the spread of West Nile Virus to wildlife, specifically grouse. <br />Columbian sharp-tail grouse: The physical loss of habitat and displacement of CSG by the <br />Collom expansion will likely result in a near-term decline for this species. There are few options <br />to create or enhance habitat off-site to benefit CSG. However, work throughout northwest <br />Colorado has shown that CSG respond well to successful reclamation of surface coal mines. In <br />the long-term, CSG populations should recover and birds should return to using the Collom area. <br />CSG are more adaptable to using grassland habitats than GSG and response to reclamation efforts <br />should be more rapid for CSG than for GSG. As such, long-term mitigation efforts for CSG <br />should rely on successful reclamation. Some interim mitigation suggested for GSG above will <br />also benefit CSG. <br />® Elk: Elk appear to have adapted to current Colowyo mining activities fairly well. However, this <br />does not mean that mitigation efforts should not be pursued. <br />o Concentrate as much of the mining activity as possible and leave the maximum amount <br />of native, suitable habitat intact for elk.