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6' Draft Environmental Impact Report Page IV.H-11 Forward Inc. Landfill Expansion Project Grange,Stanislaus County on the east side of the Valley and some of the larger scattered islands of natural land on the Valley floor in Kern, Tulare, Kings, Fresno, Madera, and Merced Counties (USFWS 1998). San Joaquin kit fox occupy habitats with open or low vegetation with loose soils. In the northern portion of their range, they occupy grazed grasslands and to a lesser r woodlands USFWS 1998 . Kit foxes are also found in razed grasslands extent valley oak woodla ( ) g including areas adjacent to tilled or fallow fields, and suburban settings (USFWS 1998). San Joaquin kit fox are predominantly nocturnal;hunting and most other activities are restricted to after dark. Suitable breeding habitat is present within the grasslands located in the southwest portion of SanJ q County oa Count (SJCOG 2000),within the Southwest and Central Southwest Transitional + zones of the SJMSCP. The project site is located within the Central Zone of the SJMSCP, and no recorded observations of kit fox were identified within a nine-quadrangle (USGS 7.5 minute topographic maps) search of the CNDDB (CNDDB 2008). Suitable breeding habitat for San Joaquin kit fox is absent within the study area due to the lack of suitable grassland habitat and rodent burrows. The SJMSCP does not require preconstruction surveys for kit fox within the Central Zone. Steelhead The Central Valley steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) ESU13 is federally listed as Threatened. This ESU covers "all naturally spawning anadromous populations of O. mykiss (steelhead)below natural and manmade impassable barriers in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries,excluding steelhead from San Francisco and San Pablo Bays and their tributaries,as well as two artificial propagation programs: the Coleman NFH,and Feather River Hatchery steelhead hatchery programs (NOAA 2005). Critical habitat for the Central Valley steelhead Distinct Population Segment (DPS) was designated in 2005 and corresponds with the ESU coverage (NOAA 2005). The South Branch of the South Fork of Littlejohn's Creek flows through the study area, and is a tributary to the San Joaquin River. This Branch is dry during most of the year (pers. comm. ! Sydney Temple, Questa Engineering Corporation), and does not provide suitable habitat for I steelhead due its current use as an irrigation channel. The lack of permanent water in the creek precludes steelhead from breeding however adults could attempt to migrate up the creek - during heavy storm events and/or large water releases. Swainson's Hawk The Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni), is a State-listed Threatened species. A great majority of the Swainson's hawks are migrators, nesting in northwestern Canada,the western U.S., and Mexico, then wintering in South America, a round trip which can exceed 14,000 miles. Swainson's hawks are summer breeders in California with approximately 80 percent of the pairs nesting in the southern Sacramento and northern San Joaquin Valleys. The migrating birds return to California between late February and early April. Swainson's hawks nesting in the Central Valley are generally found in scattered trees or along riparian systems adjacent to agricultural fields or pastures. These open fields are the primary foraging areas. Swainson's hawks generally search for prey by soaring and several hawks may be seen foraging together following tractors or other farm equipment capturing prey escaping from farming operations. 13 Evolutionarily Significant Unit k