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Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report Page IV.F-4 • Forward Inc. Landfill 2018 Expansion Project surrounding parcels and in the region, the value of these small and isolated nonnative . grasslands in supporting special-status wildlife is limited;the potential occurrence of special- • status wildlife species on the project site is discussed later in this section. Common rodents such as California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi) and pocket gophers (Thomomys bottae) may utilize the grassland areas and provide a prey base for hawks, • owls and snakes. However, it should be noted that an active rodent control program is • implemented on the landfill and no ground squirrel burrows were observed. Other common species potentially utilizing the grassland areas within the study area include black-tailed hare (Lepus californicus), striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer),common • king snake (Lampropeltis getula), western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), red-tailed hawk • (Buten jamaicensis), American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos),Brewer's blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus), mourning dove (Zanaida macroura), house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus), American kestrel (Falco sparverius), great-horned owl (Bubo virginianus), turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) and killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), among others. • Freshwater Marsh. Freshwater marsh typically occurs in low-lying sites that are permanently flooded with fresh water and lacking significant current. This plant community is found on nutrient-rich mineral soils that are saturated for all or most of the year. Freshwater marsh is • most extensive where surface flow is slow or stagnant or where the water table is so close to the • surface as to saturate the soil from below. Freshwater marsh is distributed along the coast and in coastal valleys near river mouths and around the margins of lakes,springs, and streams (Holland 1986). This vegetation community characteristically forms a dense vegetative cover dominated by perennial, emergent monocots 1-15 feet high that reproduce by underground rhizomes. Within the study area, freshwater marsh consists of scattered patches of emergent monocots along the upper reaches of the South Branch of the South Fork of Littlejohn's Creek. The marsh • vegetation growing in the channel bottom of the South Branch of the South Fork of Littlejohn's • Creek most closely conforms to the Hardstem Bulrush Marsh alliance as described in by Sawyer, et al. (2009);it would be classified as a Palustrine persistent emergent wetland following Cowardin, et al. (1979). Vegetation on the channel banks does not conform to any • particular series described in Sawyer,et al. (2009);it would be classified as an upland following . Cowardin,et al. (1979). Based on observations made in 2008, 2014, and 2018, the dominant emergent monocot is common tule (Schoenoplectus acutus), with clusters of toles occurring throughout portions of the channel. Narrow leaf cattail (Typha angustifolia)has also been observed in the channel. Dominant aquatic/wetland dicots included floating water primrose • (Ludwigia peploides) and common knotweed (Persicaria lapathifolium). Other characteristic • wetland species in the channel included umbrella sedge(Cyperus eragrostis) and eastem cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium). Occasional saplings of arroyo willow (Salix lasiolepis)were present in the channel. At the time of the May 2018 survey, large portions of the channel were • dry, with shallow pockets of water being present in the western portion of the channel. It is • important to note that this channel is cleared of vegetation on a routine basis by the Flood • Control District, and no woody vegetation or tall emergent wetland vegetation is allowed to establish and mature.Along the channel banks of the creek there are stands of California rose (Rosa californica) and California mugwort (Artemisia douglasiana). The creek banks contain many •