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1) A spring survey to locate nesting Swainson's hawks. <br /> 2) On a monthly basis, monitoring nest activity as it relates to human <br /> activities on the property. <br /> 3) Observation and documentation of foraging activities on the property and <br /> correlation of foraging activities with habitat types. <br /> 4) Development of annual report summarizing monitoring results. <br /> Success Criteria for mitigation. Continued use of the property by Swainson's hawks is not <br /> only the result of actions on the property but on adjacent lands surrounding the property. <br /> If, for example, pasture and farmland to the north and west of the property were to be <br /> converted to vineyards, Swainson's hawk foraging habitat would be severely impacted <br /> thus resulting in abandoning the ranch as a nesting area. Therefore insuring that <br /> Swainson's hawks will be present on the property 5 or 10 years from now is impractical. <br /> A better method of measuring success criteria is to adopt the criteria established for those <br /> habitats on the property that Swainson's hawk utilize. These criteria are outlined in the <br /> resource plan for the property. To summarize these criteria: <br /> Grassland Restoration. Management and restoration of grassland habitat will <br /> result in a stand of perennial grasses with cover reaching 70-90%. In five years 50% cover <br /> of native grasses should be obtained. <br /> Tree Restoration. Growth, measured in percent cover and height, will be <br /> compared to that of the same species found on-site (or nearby), but not in part of the <br /> Buckeye Ranch Resource Plan (November, 1993) <br /> 128 <br />