2011-12-22_PERMIT FILE - X201123500 (2)

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Vegetation and Wildlife Baseline Survey Report Linc Energy Little Snake River Project 5.3.2 Birds One threatened species and two candidate species may occur within the Little Snake River project area: Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida - Threatened Species), Greater sage - grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus - Candidate Species), and Yellow - billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus - Candidate Species). Mexican spotted owls typically occupy narrow canyons and river corridors on the Colorado Plateau. No known nesting or roosting areas have been documented in the project area. However, there has been an unconfirmed identification of an owl call as this species in the Dinosaur National Monument. Yellow - billed cuckoos occupy lowland riparian forests with tall trees, and are often associated with cottonwood bosques having an open understory. This species has one confirmed nesting observation within northwest Colorado, along the Yampa River near Hayden and it is also a documented breeder south of Moffat County. Yellow - billed Cuckoos are also likely to be seasonal migrants in the County. The Greater sage - grouse is a species of concern throughout the West, and is considered a "landscape species" which means that large expanses of un- fragmented land are required in order to provide all the habitat components for their annual life cycle. Relying on sagebrush for food, cover, and shelter; sage - grouse require sagebrush habitat year -round and for every phase of their life cycle. On March 5, 2010 the USFWS added the greater sage - grouse to the list of candidate species for federal listing. The USFWS and CDOW have indicated the need for expanded efforts to conserve sage - grouse and sagebrush habitat on a long -term basis, and have encouraged continued development and implementation of conservation strategies throughout the species' range. Moffat County contains the largest greater sage - grouse population in the State of Colorado. Historically. sage - grouse inhabited much of the sagebrush- dominated ecosystems of North America. Populations of this species have declined in both abundance and extent throughout most of their historical range. Even after taking into account the strong cyclic behavior of sage - grouse population dynamics, populations have declined markedly relative to both pre - settlement anecdotal numbers and the records kept in the last 30 years where the peak in the cycle of bird numbers has declined. Rogers (1964) interviewed numerous homesteaders in northwest Colorado in the early years of the 20th century and reported that sage - grouse numbered in the "thousands," wagon loads of harvested birds were taken near Hayden, and thousands of birds were shot for the annual Sage Hen Days held in Craig in the early 1900s. In the early 20th century, the highest densities of sage - grouse occurred in Moffat, Routt, Rio Blanco, Garfield, and Grand Counties. Populations appear to have declined substantially across Colorado in the 1920s and 1930s, resulting in the first closure of the hunting season in 1937. Hunting was again allowed in 1953 after greater sage - grouse populations had recovered during the 1950s. Populations of the birds continued to increase into the 1960s, but were never so great as in the early part of the century (Rogers 1964). Page 12 Habitat Management, Inc. December 2011