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operation will be minimal . Furthermore, no habitat(s) of critical importance to any <br /> Federal threatened or endangered species were identified within the study area. <br /> The farmsteads and orchards are important within the study area because of their <br /> structural complexity. The tree stratum provides resting, foraging, and/or nesting cover <br /> for a variety of birds from smaller passerines to raptors. In addition, mule deer <br /> occasionally seek shelter and food in old orchards. The Swale habitat is important to the <br /> study area wildlife in areas where the willow and cattail components are established. <br /> These thickets provide cover for mule deer and ring-necked pheasant. <br /> Affected acreages and the vegetation types (habitat) that will be replaced as a result of <br /> mining activities are found in Tab 22, Revegetation Plan. <br /> Important Wildlife Species and/or Species Groups <br /> Threatened or Endangered Species. Two Federally listed endangered species were recorded <br /> in the study area during the baseline surveys. An adult (female?) peregrine falcon was <br /> observed on 17 August 1987. The peregrine falcon is known to nest along the Dolores River <br /> Canyon (see USDI, Fish and Wildlife Service correspondence in Attachment 11-1 ). No <br /> nesting pairs are known from the San Miguel River Canyon near Nucla (Bob Clark pers. <br /> comm.). No suitable nesting habitat is present in or near the study area. The individual <br /> observed above was probably a post-breeding bird wandering from a nesting territory, <br /> perhaps from along the Dolores River. Because of the distance to the nearest nesting <br /> habitat, no impacts will occur to this species as a result of mining activities. <br /> The bald eagle has been identified as a winter resident in the San Miguel River Valley <br /> (Attachment 11-1). No communal roosting and/or feeding areas were identified in the study <br /> area. The lack of such areas, proximity to the town of Nucla, and the small size of the <br /> permit area precludes impacts to this species. <br /> Mr. Ron Arant, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation Officer, stated (pers. <br /> comm.) that a third endangered species, the whooping crane, was seen once at the Nucla <br /> sewage lagoons. This individual was probably a member of the Gray's Lake, Idaho <br /> experimental flock en route to or from the Basque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in <br /> New Mexico. Such an occurrence in the study area is unlikely to happen again. <br /> Consequenty, no mining-related impacts to this species will occur. <br /> 11-2-37 Revised 04/11/88 <br />