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D81: Until grazing is stopped long enough for the annual grass mat to provide the basis for a microtine population to persist, the only available rodent prey for the Swainson's hawk is the California ground squirrel. The primary food source for the Swainson's hawk are small rodents such as the California meadow mouse and gophers. Management for the ground squirrel can be achieved by increasing the intensity of grazing,but the promotion of a more varied and stable rodent and lagomorph prey base through the elimination or highly restricted use of grazing would be far more biologically sound. D82: The waterbird counts and species variety reported in this study for only the latter one-third of the wintering season does not support the commenter's statement that, ". . . the Tracy lakes represent a poor example of wetlands from a wildlife perspective." If we further take into consideration the San Joaquin Audubon Society's past records for this site which lists 50 species of Anseriforms, Charadriiforms,Gruiforms,Ciconiformes and Peliconiformes which utilize this site, Buckeye Ranch takes on the appearance of a major waterbird sanctuary. D83: The whole point concerning the Tracy Lakes is that they be allowed to function as a seasonal wetland, including the summer drying stages. The EIR biologist calls for artificial water input as a management tool for the winters of drought years only, but the water will still go through the normal evaporation cycle when warm weather occurs. D84: The only additional waterbird that might frequent the site if North Tracy Lake is deepened and held in a permanent wetland state would be one or two species of wintering loons and larger grebes. This would hardly offset the great loss of inshore shallow foraging areas for dabbling ducks, geese and swans which would be lost by this process. Deep, steep-sided reservoirs are not an "endangered habitat" in Central California,but vanishing shallow seasonal wetlands are. It is the preservation of the latter which continues to be the main focus of the protection agencies and the 1929 Migratory Bird Conservation Act. D85: If South Tracy lake is allowed to function naturally, then the island is only good during the winter non-nesting period. When nesting occurs the water will have dropped enough to create a peninsula. D86: There seems to be some confusion between the status, code and discussion in the text, particularly,confusion over the definition of"greater project area". Thus, this has been changed as follows. B = Breeds in northern San Joaquin County, Lodi-Galt Area If an endangered,threatened or candidate species was found to be nesting(breeding)on the site, this was discussed in the text. As a point of information,this status legend is typically used in EIR reports to identify the many species which are in a project area. Nowhere in the text is it stated that either the Cooper's hawk or the northern harrier nests (breeds) on the site. Indeed, the two sightings of the Cooper's hawk were considered "fly bys," thus they were not listed as a species which was actually seen utilizing the site other than for air space. Another example, as stated by the commenter, is that the violet green swallow does not nest on the valley floor. This bird has beenseen nesting in Caswell State Park (on the valley floor) and it was observed on the site. D87: Opinion noted. VI-162