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5�G I) ti1a.�y areas identifi� ar area.s whc: e Caliiornia c;appe: �iis were seen dur:ng 1990 surveys (as cited in che Biological Opinion for the Redwood Shozes Lavees Improvemcnt Project, , Szacember :, 1996), such as Bird Island, Bay Slough, t�e mouth.ox Steinocczgar ��ou;h and oucboard oi Icvc� Sc�ncnts III, I, II, N and VII, are areas R•her Re�wood Cicy Code Chapter :7 curreatly prohibits �unting. Bair �sland is noi he«eve: spe�ifrcal[y addr�sscd, aithouah c: �c;.ks az;d sioug.�s stsrot;ndiagporaons otBair Island, ssc:: as Redwood Crerk, Smith Sloug.h and Steinberger S1oLgh are areas whcre hunting is p�nioiie3. T}�e R�cove�� Plan ior the C:aliiornia ciappe: :ail asid the salt �arsh harvest mouse, as citcd in the USFziYS Biological Opir.ion. id�.:iunes ct:e'.idal marshes surroundin� Bair Islsd, inciudin; 3ird Island and thvse at the mouth of Steinberger Slough, as some oi the areas cfhabitat essentiai :o the sur�lval aad recovery of rhe cla��rr r�l and the salt marsh har��est rr�ouse (t;nit�d States Fish aad �rV'ildlife Sc:w�ice, 1996}. C�ntact w ith the Den =�Wards S an Francisco Bay Natioaal u'ildlife Refuge zas indicated that hunang is oermitted only on rhe Bay side of Eair Island ar�d only sunti:�g zora boats is perr:iitt�d. Ac�ordin� tc �he uuocination provid�d, hunring is r.ot pe:�:tted in interior sloughs nor is public access per�itted on Outer Bair Istand. T'aereiere walking ir. the �arsh or �untiag from blinds would not be ver.nitted. ?} Evans aud Page (1983) concludcd frvm research in a nor�h Bay marsh that the c:appez rai: breeding season, including pair ooading andnesi construction, may begin as cazly as February. Ficld obsezvar,cns in souch 3ay marshes also suggest �hat pair formation oc..�urs in Februar��. ThE e:�d oi c,�.c brcdi.�g sesson i� tvpically defined as we xd of August whic:� conesponcs to thc tinne when es�es laid durn¢ :enesting attempu aavz hatcned and young are mobiie. .qccording [o Scaia re�ulatior_s, in this area ot Caliiomia, wateriowl nuntia� season b �,ins in :nid-Gctobar and continues unil mid-January. Tliere woula ther�fore be no ove:lap betwa-a �1C' Illlr'i seasUr� ausd clapper raik bree�ing seaso�. ?} Since waceriowl hunring seasan �d California ciappe: �ii br�ding scason do nat ovcriap, any disruption of behaviors �urin� the non-breeding season would be to fa�ing or �esting beaa� �ors, zatl�er than the disrugaan o f activities associat�d wlth the reproduc�ve season (pa.ir ior•natior�, nest building, incuoauon, atc.). Diszupaon of �eeding or resring activiries ot th� California ciapperrail would �apend on the oroxiznity �i ��:e hunting aeti�Zties co rail fe.,ding ur *:s�ng habita� Given that huntir.g is only allowcd :;om boa� on riie Bay side of Bair Is:and, anY impacu would seem to be indirc :t ones reiated :o tke noi se gene.rated'oy t�c boats and guazire. It is most likeiy tizatrails would be aole tA readily :elocate to in:eaor sloughs and tidal marsh iZ distucbed by the naise lrails are also kaown to freeze in plac� ii distur�ed, in or�e: ;.o av�id deu:cuon). Although rhis could be cor.sidere3 an imnact on �keir cncrgy expenditure (i.e. energy spent relccating rathez than ie:.�ing or resting) the �ent of this �isturbance would depead on: 1 j the distance of the hunting activitics frora thc raii in relation :e the �evel of. �oise tnat is ;oierated by the rail prior to the rarl relocating; and ?) �l�.e nrequency of occuarncc of thc hunting disturbaac�. It shoulci be not�d that this hypothetical disruption af tn� rail during non-breeding s2asor. 2�ti�•ities wouldbe an iadirxt, less detrimental impact when cempared to a dinxt impact such �s prcdarioa oi the birds or dostru�;�on of thcir nests or eggs.