SU0013380 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

similar land. He said his firm believes that the criteria suggested in the EIR for what offsite areas would be appropri- ate are unreasonably restrictive, particularly the criteria that any offsite area represent a corridor between the Marsh Creek Area and West Tracy. They did not believe that would be justified by any of the impacts of the project. He felt that criteria should be deleted and, preferably, all of those specific criteria should be deleted in favor of a general requirement that any offsite mitigation be approved and acceptable to the Department of Fish and Game and the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service. • Regarding the proposed mitigation measure dealing with the Mountain House Creek corridor, the DEIR proposes that the project maintain a 200-foot-wide area through the center of the project along the creek, of which no human use could be made. He said his firm thought that mitigation is excessive, but that a 200-foot-wide corridor is more than sufficient for wildlife movement; and that some passive recreational use can be made within that corridor as long as the creek bed itself is reserved for wildlife; and there are substantial areas adjacent to the creek which are vegetative with riparian vegetation; and also that human use is restricted in those areas. Other areas of the corridor could be used for passive use, such as bike trails, hiking trails, picnic grounds, etc. Waldo Holt, 3900 River Drive, Stockton, said he intends to submit written comments and he spoke on the various wildlife species in the area: A blackrail, yellow harrier, and yellow-breasted chat are three listed species that are not included in this EIR. • The giant garter snake is currently under consideration for federal "endangered" status and he said he objected to the rather casual treatment given in the EIR for that species. • The western pond turtle is also under current consideration for state "threatened" st":us and the discussion in the EIR should be reexamined. • The tri-colored blackbird recently had its biology done which recommends an "endangered" or "threatened" status. • In Volume 2 , (10. 16-5 and 6) there is a list of birds with at least 15 inaccuracies, particularly with the status code. There is also a species in that list that does not occur in this area (hairy woodpecker) . The tri-colored blackbird is a listed legal species and it is listed as "summer visited. " The tri-colored blackbird has been documented as being a breeding bird in this county. • Regarding the burrowing owl, there are 2 different maps in the DEIR (page 4 . 13-8 , page 10. 1-23) and they indicate 3 different sites for burrowing owl. There is no discussion and no mitigation offered in the DEIR. He said that this area' s Audubon Society recently participated in a survey of the census and the status of the burrowing owl in California. Thirteen counties were involved between latitude parallel 37 PC MINUTES -4- JAN 16, 1992