Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse Riparian Habitat Preliminary Plan for Douglas County, Colorado

In 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse (PMJM) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Produced with GIS technology, this map displays a preliminary understanding of the mouse's habitat and its potential population distribution within Douglas County as of April 1999. This rare nocturnal mouse lives in heavily vegetated riparian areas along Colorado's Front Range. Many Douglas County stream reaches provide high-quality habitat for the mouse and could be protected as habitat under the Endangered Species Act.

Using telemetry points (red dots), the map shows locations of known mouse populations. The potential extent of mouse habitat (red shading) indicates major stream reaches throughout the county. The yellow shading illustrates potentially impacted stream corridors. The PMJM Collaborative Project Science Team defined areas known as preliminary core conservation zones and their associated buffer areas (dark cross-hatching). The underlying parcel layer identifies ownership and municipal boundaries used to determine possible issues that might limit the county's ability to develop adequate conservation measures.

The underlying parcel layer enabled the county to identify various ownership configurations and jurisdictional boundaries of affected municipalities-issues that might limit the county's ability to develop adequate conservation measures to protect the mouse.