2013-02-12_PERMIT FILE - M2013007 (16)

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(BIO -Logic N.uural Resourt i. C onnultants population is estimated at about 4,600 birds; the Gunnison Basin population is relatively stable but all satellite populations have consistently declined over the past several years. The Site in the Uncompahgre Valley is within one of the satellite population areas, the Cerro Summit -Sims Mesa population. GuSG occupy primarily sagebrush- dominated shrublands, with occasional use of shrublands co- dominated by Gambel oak or other mountain shrub species. Wet meadows within sagebrush landscapes are important in late summer and early fall for brood - rearing, and edges of irrigated fields can provide a similar habitat function if adjacent sagebrush cover is adequate. GuSG gather on communal display grounds called leks in spring to mate, and protection of lek sites from human disturbance or habitat changes that could increase predation is an important conservation element. GuSG nest in sagebrush in early summer, raise broods in late summer and fall in mesic sagebrush and associated wet meadows or irrigated field margins, and winter in sagebrush stands that provide adequate food and cover. Because of GuSG declines in population and distribution, many conservation programs have been initiated by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), federal and state agencies, local governments, conservation groups, and affected landowners. In 2005 a Rangewide Conservation Plan (RCP) was completed (Gunnison Sage - grouse Rangewide Steering Committee 2005), and many programs were initiated across the range of GuSG to monitor and manage populations, improve habitat, and conduct research. In January 2013, FWS proposed to list GuSG as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (FWS 2013a), and proposed to designate critical habitat (FWS 2013b) for the species in areas that include much of the Site Permit area (see Figure 1). Gunnison Sage - grouse: Potential Occurrence at the Site In 2005, as part of developing the RCP, CPW with input from FWS and other agencies prepared a map of GuSG range, designating locations of Occupied Habitat, Potential Habitat (not known to be occupied but considered to be suitable), and Vacant/Unknown Habitat. As Figure 1 shows, the Site is within an area mapped by the agencies as Occupied Habitat known as the Sims Mesa area. In the late 1990s a small number of GuSG were known to occupy BLM land on Sims Mesa, a few miles west of the Site, but these birds dwindled and have not been observed on Sims Mesa since about 2002. In recent years CPW biologists have searched for GuSG at the site during the spring lek season (when GuSG are easiest to detect and count) but have not found any GuSG (Evan Phillips, CPW Species Conservation Biologist, Montrose, CO, personal communication). It is not known if GuSG ever occupied the Site. It seems likely that they did pre - settlement, but since settlement of the Uncompahgre Valley beginning in the late 1800s the Site has been intensely grazed, and the valleys east and west of the narrow mesa where the Site occurs have been converted to irrigated agriculture and homesites. Thus, GuSG do not currently exist at the Site or anywhere in the Sims Mesa area or in the Uncompahgre Valley. Gunnison Sage - grouse Potential Habitat at the Site About 169 acres of the Site can be considered potential habitat for GuSG based on vegetation present (Figure 2). Portions of the Site are dominated by pinyon pine and Utah juniper woodlands, and are not suitable habitat for GuSG. Much of the Site is dominated by sagebrush, and is potential GuSG habitat. 2