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,bra http://zimbra/zimbra/h/printmessage?id=7584 Zimbra sstowers@sjgov.org RE: Silray Solar Initial Study (PA-1300027/PA-1300066) From :Todd@Wildlife Gardner Tue, Mar 11, 2014 02:51 PM <Todd.Gard ner@wildlife.ca.gov> Subject : RE: Silray Solar Initial Study (PA-1300027/PA- 1300066) To : Stephanie Stowers <sstowers@sjgov.org> Hello Ms. Stowers—the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has reviewed your draft Initial Study/Negative Declaration (IS/ND)and offers the following comments: - Page 11 of the subject IS/ND states that "the site does not provide suitable habitat for regionally occurring special-status wildlife species, and no special status species have been documented within or in close proximity of the site". The CDFW disagrees with this assertion. Our staff, represented by Todd Gardner, visited the site and believes the site to contain suitable foraging habitat for the Swainson's hawk (SWHA), a species listed as "Threatened by the State of California". The site contains foraging and nesting habitat for other raptor species including the red-shouldered hawk, white tailed kite, and the burrowing owl (BUOW), a species of special concern. All of these raptor species are protected by California Fish and Game Code (FGC; section 3503 & 3503.5). We recommend that the IS/ND be revised to reflect this assertion by CDFW. - Currently, we believe that mitigation is necessary to reduce-the impact to SWHA foraging habitat, and we believe that a minimum of an equal amount of land preserved and managed in perpetuity to lands being impacted should be set aside to accomplish this task. Lands preserved for mitigation should be preserved with a Conservation Easement acceptable to San Joaquin County and CDFW, and a sufficiently funded endowment account should be established to provide funds to manage and maintain the mitigation lands. In addition, a mitigation lands management plan should be established that is also acceptable to San Joaquin County and CDFW. We recommend that the IS/ND be revised to reflect this opinion by CDFW. Page 12 of the IS/ND requires surveys to be conducted for nesting Swainson's hawks, and if found a qualified biologist should determine if restrictions on construction are needed. We believe that this requirement if too vague and subjective, and does not present enforceable mitigation measures. Please be advised that "take" as defined by FGC is not authorized for this project for SWHA. We are concerned not only for SWHA, but also a number of raptors that we believe have the potential to occur on site, including but not limited to the Red-shouldered hawk, white-tailed kite, BUOW, and SWHA). We recommend that the IS/CJD be revised to include the following language for surveying for, and for providingtake avoidance and impact minimization measures: 1 of 03/14/2014 9:36 AM