Biological Resources

Data summarized in this report include digital photographs taken between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017. During this survey period, motion-sensitive cameras were deployed at twelve total locations in the vicinity of the Project.

This biological evaluation (BE) supports an evaluation of an alternative tailings storage facility (TSF; the Project) located southeast of Superior and north of Kearny, Pinal County, Arizona. The purpose of this BE is to perform a screening analysis to determine the occurrence or potential to occur of special-status species and/or designated or proposed critical habitat in the proposed Project Area or its vicinity.

This screening analysis was prepared to determine the potential for occurrence of special-status species and/or the presence of designated or proposed critical habitat within the footprint of these federal actions in support of USFS and Cooperative Agency review of these activities under NEPA.

Passive survey for raptors in 2016 were conducted at four sites in the vicinity of the Resolution Copper Project. Survey was conducted at the Whitlow Ranch Dam, two portions of Devils Canyon, and one segment of Mineral Creek, all in Pinal County, Arizona.

The Apache Leap South End parcels are three non-contiguous private inholdings within the Tonto National Forest. The Property is situated along the southern end of the Apache Leap, a prominent geologic feature that visually dominates the skyline east of the town of Superior, Arizona.

The East Clear Creek parcel is a private inholding within the Coconino National Forest, located along East Clear Creek about 38 miles (61 kilometers [km]) southwest of the town of Winslow. The Property encompasses uplands of the Colorado Plateau as well as an approximately 2.3-mile (3.7-km) reach of East Clear Creek in a narrow canyon.

This Ecological Overview was prepared for approximately 160 acres (65 hectares) in Gila and Pinal counties, Arizona. The Dripping Springs parcel is a private inholding within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands (and adjacent to Arizona State Trust Lands), located along the Dripping Spring Mountains about 8 miles (13 kilometers [km]) north of the town of Hayden.

Yellow-billed cuckoo surveys at four sites in the vicinity of the Resolution Copper Project conducted in 2015. Surveys were conducted at the Whitlow Ranch Dam, two portions of Devils Canyon, and one segment of Mineral Creek, all in Pinal County, Arizona.

In 2015 Audubon Arizona organized and conducted standardized surveys on three reaches of Queen and Arnett Creeks near Superior, Arizona, in order to document yellow-billed cuckoo occurrence and abundance and to provide a basis for management recommendations.

Arizona hedgehog cactus surveys were conducted in conformance with the monitoring requirements of the Resolution Pre-feasibility Activities Plan of Operations and the Tonto National Forest's Finding of No Significant Impact.