2010-11-16_PERMIT FILE - C1996083A (27)

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I • J.E. Stover & Associates, Inc December 6, 2006 Page 6 areas with deep winter snow, foraging habitat must contain shrubs or small trees of sufficient height to extend above snowpack. Within the Bowie #2 Permit Area, preferred denning and foraging habitats are lacking. Mature or old growth stands of lodgepole pine and spruce-fir (preferred denning habitats) and early-seral stage stands (foraging habitats) are not supported within the area. A small portion of the permit area (about 120 acres) fall within the Crater Lake LAU on USFS land; however, no mapped lynx habitat lies within this area. Just west of the Bowie #2 permit boundary on USFS land, there are less than 5 acres of "other" habitat (habitat considered capable, but currently not denning or winter habitat). This isolated habitat is associated with the riparian corridor along the East Fork of Terror Creek and consists primarily of an aspen stringer mixed with less than 40 percent conifer. The nearest substantial block of suitable habitat for lynx lies approximately 3,5 miles west of the mine boundary (Figure 3). Lynx habitat is also found at higher elevations in the Elk Mountains, and West Elk and Raggeds Wilderness Areas to the east and south of the mine permit area. One of the principal factors affecting lynx and snowshoe hare habitat in Colorado is human alteration of the abundance, species composition, and successional stages of forested habitats and the fragmentation of forested blocks.7e The effects of increased human presence and roads may also reduce habitat effectiveness. Roads fragment habitat and increase the probability of mortalities from vehicle collisions.18 Lynx are believed to be susceptible to human disturbance during the denning period and may move kittens in response to disturbance, thereby increasing the chances of mortality. Due to lack of preferred denning and foraging habitat, use of the mine permit area by lynx is expected to be limited to occasional transitory individuals. The proposed renewal of the Bowie #2 mine permit would not result in any losses of preferred habitat or in the fragmentation of blocks of suitable habitat for lynx. None of these previous impacts have affected or have the potential to affect habitats for the Canada lynx. There is no effect to lynx or lynx habitat since renewal of the Bowie #2 mine permit would not effect the structure, composition, or distribution of existing lynx denning or forage habitat. Lynx are not expected to move into the project area from reintroduction sites in the foreseeable future. Therefore, relative risks to individual lynx are predicted to be very low. The relative risk to population recovery in LAUs and wilderness areas to the south and east is also predicted to be very low. Boreal Toad The boreal toad (also known as mountain toad) was historically widespread and abundant throughout most of the southern Rocky Mountains, and has undergone a severe decline in distribution and abundance since the late 1970s.10 Causes for decline potentially include habitat destruction or alteration (flooding of montane wetlands to create reservoirs; road construction; water, livestock, timber, minerals, and fire management practices; predation by introduced trout; and other factors related to acidification and heavy-metals contamination of water bodies).70 Only three boreal toad breeding sites were known from Delta County, near the north county line on the Grand Mesa; no documented records of boreal toad exist for Delta County since 1958.9 si Koehler, G.M.and K.B. Aubry. t994. The scientifc basis for conserving forest carnivores: American marten, fisher, lynx, and wolverine • in the western United States. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. General Tech. Report RM 254. 184pp. © Rare E4rth Science, LLC