Vegetation and Wildlife Surveys at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, South Table Mountain June 2010 – May 2011 Walsh Environmental Scientists and Engineers, LLC Boulder, Colorado NREL Technical Monitor: Tom Ryon NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. Subcontract Report NREL/SR-1900-70464 July 2018 Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 Vegetation and Wildlife Surveys at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, South Table Mountain June 2010 – May 2011 Walsh Environmental Scientists and Engineers, LLC Boulder, Colorado NREL Technical Monitor: Tom Ryon Prepared under Subcontract No. LGF-0-40734-01 Suggested Citation Walsh Environmental Scientists and Engineers, LLC (2018). Vegetation and Wildlife Surveys at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, South Table Mountain: June 2010 – May 2011. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/SR-1900-70464. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy18osti/70464.pdf. NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. National Renewable Energy Laboratory Subcontract Report 15013 Denver West Parkway NREL/SR-1900-70464 Golden, CO 80401 July 2018 303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 This publication was reproduced from the best available copy submitted by the subcontractor and received no editorial review at NREL. NOTICE This work was authored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. Funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports produced after 1991 and a growing number of pre-1991 documents are available free via www.OSTI.gov. Cover Photos by Dennis Schroeder: (left to right) NREL 26173, NREL 18302, NREL 19758, NREL 29642, NREL 19795. NREL prints on paper that contains recycled content. 2010-2011 Vegetation and Wildlife Surveys at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, South Table Mountain Jefferson County, Colorado August 12, 2011 Purchase Order Number 19601000 Technical Monitor: Thomas Ryon Prepared for Prepared by This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications National Renewable Energy Lab, South Table Mountain 2010-2011 Vegetation and Wildlife Surveys TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 3 METHODS ........................................................................................................................ 3 Vegetation Mapping.................................................................................................................. 3 Noxious Weeds ......................................................................................................................... 5 General Wildlife Surveys .......................................................................................................... 5 Bird Surveys ............................................................................................................................. 5 Raptor Surveys ......................................................................................................................... 5 Large Mammal Surveys ........................................................................................................... 6 Mammalian Predator Surveys .................................................................................................. 6 Small Mammal Surveys ........................................................................................................... 6 Reptile and Amphibian Survey ................................................................................................ 6 Terrestrial Arthropod Survey ................................................................................................... 6 Targeted Wildlife Species ......................................................................................................... 7 Breeding Bird Density Surveys ................................................................................................ 7 Nocturnal Surveys .................................................................................................................... 8 Mule Deer Surveys ................................................................................................................... 8 Carnivore Camera Surveys ....................................................................................................... 8 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................ 10 Vegetation Mapping................................................................................................................ 10 Grasslands .............................................................................................................................. 10 Short-grass grassland............................................................................................................. 10 Mixed-grass grassland ........................................................................................................... 10 Upland Shrublands ................................................................................................................. 11 Tall Shrubland ........................................................................................................................ 11 Short Shrubland ...................................................................................................................... 11 Ravine Shrublands .................................................................................................................. 11 Wetlands ................................................................................................................................. 11 Disturbed/Reclaimed .............................................................................................................. 12 Developed ............................................................................................................................... 12 Noxious Weeds ....................................................................................................................... 14 Wildlife Survey Results .......................................................................................................... 16 General Wildlife Surveys ........................................................................................................ 24 Birds ....................................................................................................................................... 24 Raptors ................................................................................................................................... 25 Large Mammals ...................................................................................................................... 26 Mammalian Predators............................................................................................................. 27 Small Mammals ...................................................................................................................... 27 Reptiles and Amphibians........................................................................................................ 28 i This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications National Renewable Energy Lab, South Table Mountain 2010-2011 Vegetation and Wildlife Surveys Terrestrial Arthropods ............................................................................................................ 28 Targeted Wildlife Surveys ...................................................................................................... 29 Breeding Bird Densities ......................................................................................................... 29 Nocturnal Wildlife .................................................................................................................. 29 Mule Deer ............................................................................................................................... 30 Carnivore Camera .................................................................................................................. 30 Special Status Species ............................................................................................................. 30 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................. 32 Vegetation