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Finding on the Public Land Health Standard for Plant and Animal Communities: <br />Implementing the Proposed Action will reduce available habitat for terrestrial wildlife by <br />approximately 40 acres while the mine is in operation and 5 acres when it is not. However, at a <br />landscape scale, the proposed action will not affect the Land Health Standard for terrestrial wildlife <br />species. <br />MIGRATORY BIRDS <br />Affected Environment: The proposed project has an elevation of about 9,900 feet with an annual <br />precipitation of 16 -18 inches. The parcel is dry with only upland vegetation. The project site <br />vegetation is subalpine grassland and the adjacent slopes are lodgepole pine and spruce -fir. The site is <br />within and area of urban development and subdivisions with numerous roads and houses. <br />The Colorado Bird Conservation Plan identifies 13 vegetation habitat types important to birds in <br />Colorado. The habitat classifications and assignment of bird species to the habitats were developed by <br />Colorado Bird Observatory (CBO) staff along with individuals who contributed to early development <br />of the conservation prioritization scheme. Bird species were assigned to specific habitats based on their <br />restriction to, or strong representation within, that habitat type. Of these 13 habitat categories, 2 are <br />described for this area (mountain grassland and spruce -fir). Bird species typically found in these <br />habitats are described for each habitat type. <br />Mountain Grassland <br />Grasslands provide habitat for many species. The severity of the semi -arid climate produces contrasts <br />in vegetation. Grassland birds thus evolved in a shifting landscape mosaic, with access to patches of <br />vegetation in a variety of successional stages and conditions. Species that are typically found in the <br />grassland habitat in the planning area are ferruginous hawk, prairie falcon, upland sandpiper, <br />burrowing owl, Cassin's sparrow, lark bunting, grasshopper sparrow, McCown's longspur, western <br />meadowlark, great -horned owl, golden eagle, common raven, mourning dove and American kestrel. <br />These are typically grasslands of forest openings and park -like expanses in the montane and subalpine <br />coniferous forests. Although smaller montane grasslands are scattered throughout the Southern Rocky <br />Mountains eco- region, the largest occurrence by far (over a million acres) is on the valley floor of <br />South Park in central Colorado. This ecological system typically occurs between 7,200 and 10,000 feet <br />on gentle to steep slopes, parks, or on lower side slopes. The montane grassland community, Arizona <br />fescue- slimstem muhly (Festuca arizonica - Muhlenbergia filiculmis), is rated as S3 by the Colorado <br />Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) and is wide spread in the area of this allotment. <br />These large patch grasslands are intermixed with matrix stands of spruce -fir, lodgepole, ponderosa <br />pine, and aspen forests. In limited circumstances (e.g., South Park in Colorado) they form the "matrix" <br />of high- elevation plateaus. These large patch grasslands are intermixed with forests of spruce -fir, <br />lodgepole, ponderosa pine, mixed conifers, and aspen. Montane and subalpine grasslands are generally <br />interspersed in forest communities as park -like openings that vary in size from a few to several <br />thousand acres. <br />Spruce -fir <br />Spruce -fir forests are present at 9,000 - 12,000 ft in elevation. Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir are <br />35 <br />