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4.9 Biological Resources species could construct a nest in the landscape trees prior to project phase implementation. Breeding attempts by these species may be disrupted by construction of new Phases of the project that commence during the raptor breeding season (March 15 through August 31), causing nests to fail, resulting in unauthorized"take" ` of these species. This would be a significant impact. d) Swainson's hawk may be adversely impacted by the project through the temporary ` removal of suitable foraging habitatFor Swainson's hawks,the CDFG considers foraging habitat within 10 miles of a nest site that has shown to be active within the past five years important to species' viability(CDFG, 1994). Based on a search of Swainson's hawk nest sites in the area(CNDDB, 2005), at least one nest has shown activity within the past five years approximately 4.7 miles of the project site. As described in Section 4.3,the project contains 687 acres of farmland, approximately half of which is orchard. All of the project area in Stanislaus County is orchard and is not suitable foraging habitat for Swainson's hawk. This farmland would be actively r mined in phases for 26 to 60 years and then reclaimed,resulting in an ultimate end use of agricultural land and open space. The reclaimed agricultural land would not likely be suitable for orchard crops due to a thin available root zone. The phased and r temporary conversion of non-orchard farmland to mining activities would not result in the permanent conversion of potential Swainson's hawk foraging habitat, and is therefore not likely to result in a significant impact and no mitigation is required. e) The site exhibits low suitability for burrowing owls because of its low abundance of ground squirrel burrows and the limited areas of suitable habitat; however, low- suitability nesting and foraging habitat may still be used by burrowing owls. Therefore, implementation of the project could directly affect burrowing owl nests (i.e.,destroying occupied burrows)or cause indirect impacts(e.g., nest abandonment). These impacts would be potentially significant. _ f) Although loggerhead shrikes will nest in orchards and the project would remove about 416 acres of orchard, orchards are common in the project area. Therefore the project would not substantially reduce the amount of potential breeding habitat for ` loggerhead shrikes. This impact would be less than significant and does not require mitigation. Mitigation Measures Measure 4.9.2a: Conditions on the project site currently provide habitat for San Joaquin kit fox. Site conditions will change over the 26-to 60-year life of the project; therefore, the ` following mitigation measures shall be implemented prior to implementation of any phase of mining. (I) Comply with the SJMSCP. For Phases complying with the SJMSCP, no further mitigation is required,or �. (II) For Phases not complying with the SJMSCP, the applicant shall perform an early evaluation of the Phase according to USFWS protocol for San Joaquin kit fox RMC Pacific Vernalis Quarry Mining and Reclamation Project 4.9-15 ESA 1203015 Draft Environmental Impact Report May 2006