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

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BIO-Logic Itcsourcc Consultants The principal conservation significance of the Sims Mesa area for GuSG is the maintenance of habitat connectivity between sub - population elements of GuSG. The Sims Mesa area represents a remnant of what was once more extensive sagebrush patches between the Cerro Summit area to the east and San Miguel Basin to the southwest. BLM lands on Sims Mesa and adjacent mesas apparently do not provide suitable year -round habitat for GuSG, given the local extirpation that occurred in the early 2000s. Future improvements in habitat or population management may allow GuSG to reoccupy the Sims Mesa area. Even so, the small mesa where the Site occurs is partially isolated from the larger Sims Mesa, and is bordered on 2 sides by agricultural and residential development. As such, this mesa does not represent a strong opportunity for future conservation of GuSG in the Sims Mesa area. Literature Cited U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). 2013a. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Status for Gunnison Sage - grouse: Proposed Rule. 50 CFR Part 17, Docket No. FWS —R6— ES- 2012 -0108. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). 2013b. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for Gunnison Sage - grouse: Proposed Rule. 50 CFR Part 17, Docket No. FWS—R6—ES-2011-0111. Gunnison Sage - grouse Rangewide Steering Committee. 2005. Gunnison Sage - grouse Rangewide Conservation Plan. Colorado Division of Wildlife, Denver. Author Qualifications Steve Boyle (B.S. degree, Biology; M.S. degree, Wildlife Biology) has 33 years of experience as a wildlife biologist in Colorado and other regions of the western U.S. From 1982 -1984 Steve was a Wildlife Research Technician at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fort Collins, CO, and from 1984- 1989 he was District Wildlife Manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife (now Colorado Parks and Wildlife) in Dolores County, CO. Since founding BIO- Logic, Inc. in 1991 he has provided wildlife research, management, impact analysis, and strategic conservation planning services to a wealth of government agencies, private industries, conservation groups, and landowners. Steve has special expertise in Gunnison sage - grouse. He has performed lek counts and surveys, and prepared numerous impact analyses for transmission lines and other development projects and conducted consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For Colorado Parks and Wildlife he prepared Colorado Sagebrush: A Conservation Assessment and Strategy in 2005, the only statewide assessment and strategy to date for protecting sagebrush ecosystems in Colorado. Also for CPW he has overseen the documentation of Gunnison sage - grouse habitat and conservation significance for over 50 private ranches seeking enrollment in conservation programs, and has performed quantitative monitoring of vegetation structural characteristics for enrolled properties. For the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Steve identified and mapped Gunnison sage - grouse seasonal habitats in Mesa County using quantitative vegetation measurements and GIS analysis, and in the Gunnison Basin he evaluated Gunnison sage - grouse habitat potential for BLM on a proposed geothermal lease tract. He serves on the San Miguel Basin Gunnison 4