beirif? damaged by livestock. Riparian habitat should 

 be excluded from mining until its restoration has 

 been demonstrated and assured. 



Cliffs and rock formations, especially those made of 

 sandstone, should be protected or enhanced during 

 miningo All cliffs with suitable potholes and ledges 

 for raptor nests should be protected, even if they 

 are not presently being used by nesting raptors. These 

 cliffs are being used as roosting areas for raptors, 

 and may be used in the future for nesting. Cliffs 

 often support a large number of snags which are 

 heavily used as nest trees by mountain bluebirds^ 



Preserve nests that are regularly used by golden eagles 

 or other special interest raptors. Raptors commonly 

 build several nests within their territories and alter- 

 nate between them from year to year (Call 1978). A 

 nest may be "active" even though it hasn't been used 

 in several years. 



All known raptor stick nests, even those originally 

 built by red-tailed hawks, should be monitored for 

 use by special interest raptors until mining actually 

 takes place. Raptors often rebuild nests originally 

 built by other species. 



Minimize disturbance of active raptor nests during the 

 breeding season (April-July). Disturbance during 

 incubation can cause egg mortality from predation or 

 exposure when the incubating bird is flushed, or total 

 abandonment of the nest. Disturbance of nests with 

 nestlings can cause mortality from exposure, interrupted 

 feedings, and premature fledging. 



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