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BAY AREA OFFICE ' 1055 Creston Road d Berkeley,CA 94708 Phone:510/559-9603 NATURAL LANDS CONSULTINd .\ Fax:510/559-9605 www.volimarconsultino.com MEMORANDUM To: Roy Reeves,Reeves Sand and Gravel Date: 05/17/19 From: John Vollmar,VNLC No. Pages: 2 plus attached figures and site photographsSubject: Habitat Assessment for Proposed Whiskey Slough Sand Mine Project Site,San Joaquin County,California This memo summarizes the methods and results of a habitat assessment that I conducted on the approximately 60-acre proposed Whiskey Slough Sand Mine Project Site in western San Joaquin County, California(Figures 1 and 2).The site is located approximately six miles west of Stockton and two miles due north of the town of Holt on Highway 4. It is just east of Whiskey Slough and west-southwest of the intersection of Holt and MacDonald Roads. The assessment was conducted to determine potential occurrence of wetlands or other sensitive habitats or potential habitat for special-status species including nesting western burrowing owls(Athene cunicularia).The site survey followed the methods outlined in the Burrowing Owl Survey Protocol and Mitigation Guidelines published by the Burrowing Owl Consortium(1993)and constitutes `Phase I: Habitat Assessment' of the survey guidelines. The assessment concludes that there are no potential wetlands or other sensitive habitats on the site and minimal suitable habitat for special-status species.The site is subject to on-going farming or periodic disking which generally prevents small mammals and other wildlife from inhabiting the site.There is a general lack of mammal burrows and thus a lack of potential nesting sites for western burrowing owl.The lack of small mammals also means there is a general lack of available prey for raptors such as burrowing owl or Swainson's hawk(Buteo swainsoni).The results of this assessment may be submitted to California Department of Fish and Wildlife or San Joaquin County. PHASE I: HABITAT ASSESSMENT I conducted a site survey on May 9,2019. 1 drove to perimeter of the site and walked transects across the site,taking photographs and notes on habitat conditions. I carefully surveyed the site for the presence of small mammal burrows that could be used as owl burrow nesting sites and checked for other sensitive resources. I conducted the survey from 3-5 pm. The weather was sunny and mild with a temperature of about 70°F. The site is located in an area of developed agricultural fields,used mostly to grow annual crops.All surrounding lands are developed croplands.The site itself is a flat,leveled agricultural field.Based on a review of Google Earth historical imagery,the site previously supported a vineyard or orchard which was removed in 2016 or 2017. Since then,the site has been used for annual crops.It was disked within a few weeks before my site visit and the surface consisted of upturned soil chunks and remnants of the plants that had been growing on the site.The dominant plant species observed included cultivated wheat (Tritecum sativum),wild radish(Raphanus sativus),field bindweed(Convolvulus arvensis),and field mustard(Brassica nigra),all of which are non-native weedy or cultivated species.According to the landowner,the site was farmed for wheat in the 2018/2019 growing season but there were too many weeds so the crop was not harvested but disked in.There are no agricultural ditches or canals on the site I