Final environmental assessment and decision notice of the reintroduction of bighorn sheep into the Elkhorn Mountains, Montana

136 Pages·1995·3.8 MB·English

by  Montana. Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks

FINAL
ENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENT
AND DECISIONNOTICE
OFTHE
REINTRODUCTION OF BIGHORN SHEEPINTO
THE ELKHORNMOUNTAINS, MONTANA.
STATEDOCUMENTSCOLLECTION
DEC 22 19S5
MONTANASTATELIBRARY
HELEN1A5,15MEO.N6TtAhNAAVE5.9S20
MONTANAFISH,WILDLIFE&PARKS
SEPTEMBER1995
A
o* Cs-afii
1
TABLEOFCONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
CHAPTERI.PURPOSEANDNEED 1
A.THEPROPOSEDACTION 1
B.PURPOSEANDNEED 2
C.SCOPEOFTHEPROPOSEDACTION 2
D.AGENCIESCONSULTEDDURINGEAPREPARATION 3
CHAPTERII.THEALTERNATIVESANDHOWTHEYWEREDEVELOPED. 5
A.GENERALINTRODUCTION 5
B.DEVELOPMENTOFALTERNATIVES 5
1.Introduction 5
2.DescriptionofInternalandPublicScoping 5
3.IssuesPromptingAlternativeDevelopment 5
Issue1.ActivityRestrictions 6
Issue2.DomesticSheep 6
4.OtherIssues 6
Issue3.CompetitionForForage 6
Issue4.RangeCondition 7
Issue5.PrivateLand 7
Issue6.RecreationalOpportunities 7
C.ALTERNATIVESCONSIDEREDINDETAIL 7
1.Overview 7
2.FeaturesandMonitoringCommontoAllActionAlternatives 8
3.AlternativeDescriptions 8
AlternativeA(NoAction) 8
AlternativeB(ProposedAction) 9
AltGmfltivcC 9
D ALTERNATIVESCONSIDEREDBUTNOTGIVENDETAILEDSTUDY 10
E.COMPARISONOFALTERNATIVESWITHRESPECTTOEFFECTS.... 10
CHAPTERIII.THEAFFECTEDENVIRONMENT 11
A.INTRODUCTION 11
B.AFFECTEDENVIRONMENT 11
1.Soil 11
2.Water 12
3.Vegetation 12
HabitatTypesAndRangeCondition 12
Threatened.Endangered,andSensitiveSpecies 13

TABLEOFCONTENTS(continued)
TITLE PAGE
4.OtherWildlife 14
BiffGameResources 14
Threatened.Endangered.AndSensitiveSpecies 15
5.SocialIssues 17
MotorizedTravel 17
MininffandRecreationalActivities 17
LivestockGrazing 17
PrivateLand 18
6.CulturalResources 18
CHAPTERIV.ENVIRONMENTALCONSEQUENCES 19
A.SOIL 19
B.WATER 19
C.VEGETATION 20
1.RangeCondition 20
2.SensitivePlantSpecies 20
D.OTHERWILDLIFE 21
1.BigGameResources 21
2.SensitiveWildlifeandFishSpecies 22
E.SOCIALISSUES 23
1.ActivityRestrictions 24
2.CompetitionWithLivestockForForage 25
3.DomesticSheep 25
4.PrivateLand 25
5.RecreationalOpportunities 26
F.CUMULATIVEEFFECTS 27
LISTOFPREPARERS 27
LISTOFINDIVIDUALSCONSULTED 28
REFERENCESCITED 28
APPENDIXA 32
APPENDIXB 37
ii

LISTOFFIGURESANDTABLES
NUMBER DESCRIPTION PAGE
Figure1 Mapofpotentialbighornseasonalranges
Table1 Comparisonofoutcomesof3alternatives
Table2 Occurrenceofsensitiveplants
Table3 Occurrenceofsensitivefishandwildlife
Table4 Predictedimpactsonsensitiveplants
Table5 Predictedimpactsonsensitivewildlife

/
CHAPTER
I.
PURPOSEANDNEED
A.THEPROPOSEDACTION
TheProposedActionisforMontanaFish,Wildlife&Parks(FWP)toreintroduce
MRooucnktyaMionusnotfaisonutbhi-gcheonrtnraslhMeeopnt(aOnvai.scFanWaPdeinnsiitsiacllaynaiddeenntsiifsi)edin8tphoeteEnltikahlowminter
rangereleasesitesduringanearlierfeasibilitystudy(Vore1993). Ofthe8
identifiedsites,theIndianCreekandCrowCreekreleasesiteswereselected
basedonhabitatsuitability,distancefromdomesticsheepoperationsandother
potentiallyconflictinglanduses,landownership,overlapwithexistingwildlife
habitats,juxtapositiontosummerrange,andestimatedcarryingcapacity.
BighornscapturedfromotherMontanaherdswouldbehandledinamanner
whichwillminimizestressduringtransport(Aune1994). Medicationswillalsobe
administeredincludinganantibiotictoreducethepossibilityofinfection,
ivermectineforparasitecontrol,andaseleniumsupplementtoreducecapture
myopathy(Aune1994). Testsforavarietyofdiseasesanddiseaseorganisms,
includingPasteurellaspp.,willbeperformedonbloodandthroatswabsamplesof
bloodandthroatcultures. Avaccinemayalsobeadministeredwhichcouldafford
protectionfromcertainPasteurellabacteriaduringthefirstyearafterrelease(K.
Aunepers.commun. 1994). Bighornswouldbereleasedasfollows:
1)20to40bighornswouldbereleasedfortwoconsecutivewintersonthe
IndianCreekwinterrange,beginningasearlyasthewinterof1995-96;and
2)20to40bighornswouldthenbereleasedfortwoconsecutivewinterson
theCrowCreekwinterrange,beginningasearlyasthewinter1997-98.
Pdreitoerrmtoinreelfeuatsuer,esmoomveemofentthse.biBgihogrhnosrnwsouwlodulbdeamlasorkbeedsuwrivtehyreaddiaonnturaalnlsymibtyteFrsWtPo
todeterminepopulationparameters.
Asbighornsbecomeestablished,FWPbiologistswoulddeterminebothwhentheir
numbersshouldbemanagedandthefeasibilityofpublichuntingand/or
translocation,asapprovedbytheFWPCommission. Establishingasheep
populationnumericallysufficienttosupportrecreationalhunting(i.e.limited
specialpermits)isaprimarygoalofthisproject. TheIndianCreekandCrow
Creekwinterrangeshavebeenestimatedtosupport75to125bighornsapiece
(Vore1993).
C
1