Table Of Content

BLMLIBRARY 88070349 Final Report for the Atlantic Rim Mule Deer Study PreparedFor. AnardarkoPetroleumCompany HoustonCorporateOffice 1201LakeRobbinsDrive TheWoodlands,TX77380 BureauofLandManagement RawlinsFieldOffice 1300N.Third POBox2407 Rawlins,WY82301 WarrenE&P,Inc. C1a2s3peWre,sWtY1st8St2.6,0S1uite505 WyomingGameandFishDepartment 5400BishopBlvd. Cheyenne,WY82006 PreparedBy: HallSawyer WesternEcosystemsTechnology,Inc. 2003CentralAvenue Cheyenne,WY82001 April2007 QL 737 U55 . A842 2007 &q2\\Z55bO IT>Z%0'703lI^ 737 ,065 ^OCR Final Report forthe Atlantic Rim Mule Deer Study PreparedFor. AnardarkoPetroleumCompany HoustonCorporateOffice 1201LakeRobbinsDrive TheWoodlands,TX77380 BureauofLandManagement RawlinsFieldOffice 1300N.Third POBox2407 Rawlins,WY82301 WarrenE&P,Inc. C1a2s3peWre,sWtY1st8S2t,60S1uite505 WyomingGameandFishDepartment 5400BishopBlvd. Cheyenne,WY82006 PreparedBy: HallSawyer WesternEcosystemsTechnology,Inc, 2003CentralAvenue Cheyenne.WY82001 April2007 BLMLibrary DenverFederalCenter Bldg.50,OC-521 P.O.Box25047 Denver,CO 80225 yifcidijMJS jetnaOicisby-llsvnsG rse-oo,06.gbia T^OSSxoa.0.9 5SS'0f: 0'> levnoG AtlanticRimDeerStudy WEST,Inc. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AnadarkoPetroleumCompany(APC)andWarrenE&Pprovidedfundingforthis project.TheWyomingGameandFishDepartment(WGFD)andRawlinsFieldOfficeofthe BureauofLandManagement(BLM)providedin-kinddonationsandstudydirection.We thankJoyRector(APC),CathyFlansburg(APC),DavidApplegate(APC),ScottHedlund (WarrenE&P),FrankBlomquist(BLM),MaryRead(BLM),HeathCline(BLM),BillRudd (WGFD),TimWoolley(WGFD),andGregHiatt(WGFD)forofficeandlogisticalsupport. DwightFrance(FranceFlyingService)conductedalltherelocationflightsandJimPope (LeadingEdgeAviation)providedthehelicoptercaptureservice.WeappreciateJackCobb, JohnEspy,MikeSheehan,ChuckSanger,andThreeForksRanchforallowingustoaccess theirlands. TABLEOFCONTENTS Page 1.0 Introduction 2 2.0 StudyArea 3 3.0 Objectives 6 4.0 Methods 6 5.0 Results 7 5.1 Capture 7 5.2 GPScollars 8 5.3 Adultsurvivalandmortality 8 5.4 Seasonaldistribution,migrationandmovementrates 9 6.0 Discussion 24 7.0 ManagementImplications 26 8.0 LiteratureCited 27 1 AtlanticRimDeerStudy WEST,Inc. 1.0 INTRODUCTION IncreasedlevelsofenergydevelopmentacrosssouthwestWyominghavecreateda varietyofconcernsforfish,wildlifeandthehabitatstheyoccupy(BureauofLand Management[BLM]1998).Impactsincludedirectandindirecthabitatlossesthatcan potentiallyresultinreducedpopulationperformance(Sawyeretal.2006a).Directhabitatloss occurswhennativevegetationisconvertedtoaccessroads,wellpads,pipelines,andother projectfeatures.Indirecthabitatlossesoccurwhenwildlifearedisplacedoravoidareasnear infrastructurebecauseofincreasedlevelsofhumandisturbances(e.g.,traffic,noise,pollution, humanpresence).Thedraftenvironmentalimpactstatement(DEIS)fortheAtlanticRim ProjectArea(ARPA)proposesthedevelopmentof2,000naturalgaswells,including1,800to coalbedsand200tootherformations,ataspacingofupto80acresperwell(BLM2005). MuledeerherdsintheAtlanticRimregionareamongthelargestintheIntermountainWest andknowntomigrateupto60milesbetweenseasonalranges(Porter1999).Maintaining healthymuledeerpopulationsandfunctionalmigrationroutesisatoppriorityforagencies andthepublic.InresponsetotheproposedAtlanticRimNaturalGasDevelopmentProject, theBLM,theWyomingGameandFishDepartment(WGFD),AnadarkoPetroleumCompany (APC),andWarrenE&P,Inc.implementedacooperativestudyintendedtoprovidethe necessaryinformationtomitigatepotentialimpactsandensuredevelopmentplansare environmentallysensitivetomuledeer. Thisstudywasdesignedtohavetwophases.Thefirstphaseofthestudywasintendedto i2d0e0n6t)ifyseasonalranges,documentmigrationroutes,andestimatesurvivalratespriorto developmentoftheproposed2,000naturalgaswells.Therewereapproximately116natural gaswellscompletedtocoalformationsunderanexploratoryinterimdrillingprogram(BLM 2005)intheARPAduringPhaseI.Full-scaledevelopmentwasnotexpecteduntilthesummer of2007,followingtheRecordofDecisionontheFinalEnvironmentalImpactStatement (BLM2006).PhaseIofthestudywasexpectedtolastapproximatelytwoyears(2005through .OncePhaseIwascompleted,studycooperatorsweretodetermineifPhaseIIwas warranted.Ifconducted,PhaseIIwasenvisionedasalong-term(>3years)studythatwould occurduringorafterdevelopmenttodetermineifimpactstomuledeerfromnaturalgas developmentoccur,includingchangesinmigrationroutes,habitatusepatterns,andsurvival. Thisstudywasnotimplementedasacompliancemeasure;ratheritwasacooperative effortamongagenciesandindustrytobetterunderstandmuledeerecologyintheARPA. InformationfromPhaseIprovidesthebaselineinformationnecessarytodevelopenergy resourcessuchthatimportantmigrationroutesandseasonalrangescanbeprotectedor minimallyimpacted.Additionally,PhaseIprovidesthepre-developmentinformationneeded, shouldPhaseIIofthestudymaterialize.ThisreportsummarizesworkcompletedinPhaseI. 2 AtlanticRimDeerStudy WEST,Inc. 2.0 STUDYAREA southofTh1-e80A,ReaPsAtoifsWloYcat7e8d9,inasnodutnhoerrtnhCoafrWbYon7C0ou(nFitgyur(eFi2g)u.rTeh1e)AanRdPeAnceoxmtpeansdsses422mi" approximately48milesbetweenRawlinsandBaggs,andcontains64%(271mi")federal,5% (22mi2)state,and31%(129mi2)privatelands(BLM2005).TheARPAislocatedinthe 2e)a.stTehrenpWoGrtFioDnomfatnhaegeBasgtghsehBeargdgsunihterwdhiuncihtifnorclaudpeosst3-hhuunnttianrgesasea(s8o2n,p8o4p,ul10a0t;ioFnigoufre1s8,170a0nd deer,buttheestimatedherdsizehasrangedfrom20,200in2001to22,300in2005(Woolley 2005).Atthetimeofthisstudy(2006)therewereapproximately116naturalgaswells completedintheARPAandtheDEISproposeddevelopmentofupto2,000(BLM2005).The ARPAsupportsavarietyofvegetationtypes,butisgenerallycharacterizedbyrolling topography,prominentridges,anddrycanyonsdominatedbysagebrush(Artemisiasp.),black greasewood(Sacrobatusvermiculatus),Utahjuniper(Jimiperusosteosperma),andother smpi.x,eCde-rschorcuabr(pPuusrssph.i)a(tPrhiodtenolsat1a,anPdri2)m.uEslveivragtiinoinasnar,anAgmeelfarnocmhi6,e3r0a0lntiofo8l,i3a,00Cfhereyt.soTthheaAmnRuPsA contains21livestockallotmentstotaling30,462permittedanimalunitmonths(AUM;BLM 2005).RefertoBLM(2005)fordetaileddescriptionofstudyarea. AtlanticRimProjectArea(ARPA)insouth-centralWyoming. 3 I AtlanticRimDeerStudy WEST,Inc. POD#1 RedRim i x \ I AtlanticRimProjectArea £4 r~|PlansofDevelopment(POD) r~lWGFDHuntAreas 1’ i...mm/ Des~igCCnrrauutcceiidaallwiwwniitnnettreerrr-aynegaerslonXg X!-.'J84.. 0 1 2 3 4 5 Miles,,A , DotyMountain CowCreek BiuaSkyi |. J. MuddyMountain Figure2.Locationofcrucialmuledeerwinterranges,muledeerhuntareas,andplansof development(POD)intheAtlanticRimProjectArea(ARPA)insouth-centralWyoming. 4