Table Of Content

s 636.294 MONTANASTATELIBRARY t F2bse 1999 308640014 4307 9 DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT BIG SANDY ELK GAME FARM MARCH1999 STATt- DOCUMENTSCOLLECTION M r MAY MONTANASTATELIBRARY HELEN1A5,15MEO.N6TtAhNAAVE5.9620 MontanaFish, Wildlife&Parks Region6 RuralRoute1-4210 Glasgow,Montana 59230 r* i *-i .. t TABLE OF CONTENTS Page SUMMARY INTRODUCTION ‘ i OBJECTIVES i -1 PUBLICPARTICIPATION 2 PROPOSEDACTIONANDALTERNATIVES 2 APRFOUFLREEPCOOTSFEEDFAWENPNDVAINNREDOENDDMOOELFNTTHEPROPOSEDACTION ’’'.”’’’555 ENVIRONMENTALCONSEQUENCES 8 EACONCLUSION 12 MITIGATIONMEASURES 13 PARTI. GAMEFARMLICENSEAPPLICATIONINFORMATION 16 PARTII. ENVIRONMENTALREVIEW 19 EADEFINITIONS ‘ ’19 PHYSICALENVIRONMENT Land 20 Air 22 Water 24 Vegetation 27 FishandWildlife 29 HUMANENVIRONMENT NoiseEffects 32 LandUse 33 Risk/HealthHazards 34 CommunityImpact 38 PublicServices/Taxes 39 Aesthetics/Recreation 41 CulturalandHistoricalResources 42 Summary 44 SUMMARYEVALUATIONOFSIGNIFICANCE 46 PARTIII. NARRATIVEEVALUATIONANDCOMMENT 49 PART IV. EACONCLUSION 51 FIGURES FIGURE1 BigSandyElkGameFarmSiteMap 3 FIGURE2 BigSandyElkGameFarmMapShowingLandUseandLandCover 4 FIGURE3 BigSandyElkGameFarmMapShowingLandOwnership 6 FIGURE4 BigSandyElkGameFarmMapShowingBigGameDistribution 9 APPENDICES APPENDIXA PRIVATEPROPERTYASSESSMENTACTCHECKLIST SUMMARY ENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENT PROPOSED BIG SANDYELKGAME FARM INTRODUCTION MontanaFish,Wildlife&Parks(FWP)isrequiredtoperformanenvironmentalanalysisinaccordancewith theMontanaEnvironmentalPolicyAct(MEPA)foreachproposalforprojects,programs,legislation,and othermajoractionsofstategovernmentsignificantly affectingthequalityofthehumanenvironment (AdministrativeRulesofMontana[ARM]12.2.430). FWPusesenvironmentalassessments(EAs)inthe gamefarmlicensingprocesstoidentifyandevaluateenvironmentalimpactsofaproposedgamefarm. EAsalsodeterminewhethertheimpactswouldbesignificantandwhether,asaconsequence,FWPwould performamoredetailedenvironmentalimpactstatement(EIS). WhenpreparinganEA,FWPreviewsenvironmentalimpactsoftheProposedAction,impactsoftheNo ActionAlternative,andimpactsofotheralternativeactionswhichincluderecommendedand/ormandatory measures to mitigate the project’s impacts. Amitigated EA includes alternatives with enforceable requirements(stipulations)whichreduceimpactsoftheProposedAction. TheEAmayalsorecommend apreferredalternativefortheFWPdecisionmaker. ThisEAispreparedforaproposedgamefarm(BigSandyElk)nearHavre,Montana. Baseduponits reviewoftheBigSandyElkGameFarmapplication,FWPhaspreparedamitigatedEA. OBJECTIVES ThisEAhasbeenpreparedtoservethefollowingpurposesinaccordancewithFWPMEPArules(ARM 12.2.430): • ensurethatFWPusesnaturalandsocialsciencesinplanninganddecisionmaking; • tobeusedinconjunctionwithotheragencyplanninganddecision-makingprocedurestomakea determinationregardingtheProposedAction; • assistintheevaluationofreasonablealternativesandthedevelopmentofconditions,stipulations, andmodificationstotheProposedAction; • determinetheneedtopreparean EISthroughaninitial evaluation anddetermination ofthe significanceofimpactsassociatedwiththeProposedAction; • ensurethefullestappropriateopportunityforpublicreviewandcommentontheProposedAction; and • examine and document the effects of the Proposed Action on the quality of the human environment. PublicDraftEA(March1999) 1 BigSandyElkGameFarm PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PublicinvolvementintheEAprocessincludesstepstoidentifyandaddresspublicconcerns. TheDraft EAwillbeavailableforpublicreviewandcommentfromMarch29,1999until5pmApril19,1999from theRegion6FWPoffice. CommentsregardingthisEAshouldbesubmittedtoFWPoratthepublic meetingatthelocationsspecifiedbelow. Mr.TomHinz Fish,WildlifeandParks,Region6 RuralRoute1-4210 Glasgow,Montana 59230 Phone (406)228-3700 PROPOSEDACTION ANDALTERNATIVES PROPOSEDACTION FWPreceivedanapplicationonDecember8,1998fromKimandCindyKafkatoconstructtheBigSandy ElkGameFarmatasiteapproximately6milessouthwestofHavre,HillCounty,Montana. TheProposed Actionconsistsofplacing40adultelk(cowsorbulls)ona65-acrepasture(Figure1). Thesiteconsists oflevelcroplandoverlookingthevalleyofBigSandyCreek. TheKafka’sliveapproximately1milesouth ofthesite. Thepurposeofthegamefarmistoprovidebreedingstock,meat,andantlers. Occasional feeshootingofelkbythepublicisalsoproposed. Theapplicantsoperatea40-acreelkgamefarm1 milesouthofthesite(Figure2)(FWPGameFarm LicenseNo.622)anda1,145-acreelkshootingpreserve6milestotheeast(DiamondKRanchGame Farm). Theapplicantshavealsoproposedan869acreshootingpreservegamefarm(DiamondKElk Enterprises Ranch2)forelk,deer,andothergamelocated immediatelysouth andsouthwestofthe proposedBigSandyElkgamefarmsite. IfexcessbullelkremainattheendofDecemberatthenearby shootingpreserves,theseelkwouldbetransferredtotheproposedgamefarmsiteforathreemonth period. Thesematurebullelkmaybesubjectedtooccasionalharvestduringwinter. Bullsnotharvested duringthewinterwould berelocated backtotheshootingpreserve(s)in lateMarch/earlyApril. The proposedgamefarmwouldalsobeusedtoholdadultfemaleelkandtheircalvesonayear-longbasis. Themaximumnumberofelkproposedforthegameformwouldbe40. TheapplicantswouldsellanddisposeofdomesticelkinaccordancewithMontanagamefarmanddisease controlrequirementsstipulatedinMontanastatuteandadministrativerules. Fenceconstructionwouldbe inaccordancewithrequirementsofFWPunderARM12.6.1531. Fencingwouldconsistof8-foothigh,6- inchmeshgamefencesupportedbywoodorsteelpostssetatleast3feetintothegroundandnotmore than24feetapart. Cornerandendpostswouldbebraced. Twoproposedexteriorgateswouldbe equippedwithonelatchingandatleastonelockingdevice. Quarantineandhandlingfacilitieswouldbe providedinaccordancewithDoLrequirements. PublicDraftEA(March1999) 2 BigSandyElkGameFarm irch1999) 3 BigSandyElkGameFan •