Louisiana Pearlshell Conservation Environmental Assessment
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United States Department of Agriculture Louisiana Pearlshell Conservation Environmental Assessment Forest Service Kisatchie National Forest March 2020 In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, religious creed, disability, age, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. 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This institution is an equal opportunity provider. 1 Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................3 Proposed Project Location ........................................................................................................................ 3 Background ............................................................................................................................................... 3 Purpose and Need for Action ..............................................................................................................8 Proposed Action and No Action Alternative ........................................................................................8 Proposed Action ........................................................................................................................................ 8 No Action .................................................................................................................................................. 9 Comparison of Alternatives ...................................................................................................................... 9 Environmental Impacts ......................................................................................................................9 Issues ......................................................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 10 Impacts .................................................................................................................................................... 10 Soil and Water .................................................................................................................................... 10 Fish and Aquatic Organisms ............................................................................................................... 11 Heritage .............................................................................................................................................. 18 Agencies and Persons Consulted....................................................................................................... 19 Interdisciplinary Team Members ............................................................................................................ 19 Federal, State, and Local Agencies .......................................................................................................... 19 Tribes ....................................................................................................................................................... 19 Others ..................................................................................................................................................... 19 Literature Cited ................................................................................................................................19 List of Tables Table 1. Comparison of Alternatives ............................................................................................................. 9 Table 2. Endangered Species Considered and Included/Excluded from Analysis. ..................................... 12 Table 3. Threatened Species Considered and Included/Excluded from Analysis. ...................................... 12 Table 4. Sensitive Species Considered and Included/Excluded from Analysis. .......................................... 13 Table 5. Conservation Species Considered and Included/Excluded from Analysis. ................................... 13 Table 6. Aquatic Management Indicator Species by Stream Habitat ......................................................... 16 List of Figures Figure 1. Proposed action watersheds, Catahoula Ranger District .............................................................. 4 Figure 2. Proposed action watersheds, Evangeline Unit of the Calcasieu Ranger District ........................... 5 Figure 3. Current and Historical Distribution of the Louisiana pearlshell mussel ........................................ 7 2 Introduction The Forest Service is proposing various management actions to enhance Louisiana pearlshell mussel (LPM), Margaritifera hembeli, habitat and populations. Planning of the project will occur in a manner which incorporates the strategic purposes of the Kisatchie National Forest’s 1999 Revised Land and Resource Management Plan (RLRMP) and the Louisiana Pearlshell Recovery Plan (LPRP). The primary purpose of this proposal is to maintain and/or improve LPM habitat and populations. The Forest Service has prepared this Environmental Assessment in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other relevant Federal and State laws and regulations. This project implements the KNF RLRMP and is subject to the predecisional objection process at 36 CFR 218 Subparts A and B, as published in the Federal Register on March 27, 2013. This Environmental Assessment discloses the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts that would result from the proposed action. Additional documentation, including more detailed analyses of project-area resources, may be found in the project planning record located at the Kisatchie National Forest Supervisor’s Office in Pineville, Louisiana. This EA tiers (40 CFR 1502.20) to the FEIS for the Kisatchie National Forest RLRMP. The Plan and FEIS are on-line at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/kisatchie/landmanagement/planning/?cid=STELPRDB5391441. Proposed Project Location Project work would occur on Forest Service lands within the sub-watersheds (12-digit 6th level) and township ranges where the LPM currently or historically occurred. The locations are as follows: Black Creek, Gray Creek, Bayou Rigollette-Walden Bayou, Hudson Creek sub- watersheds in T7N R2W & T6N R2W & T6N R1W of the Catahoula Ranger District (RD) and Bayou Cocodrie-Bayou Rapides, Kincaid Reservoir-Bayou Boeuf, Middle Bayou-Bayou Boeuf, Bayou Clear-Bayou Boeuf sub-watersheds in T4N R3W & T3N R3W & T3N R2W & T2N R3W & T2N R2W & T2N R1W of the Evangeline Unit of the Calcasieu RD (Figures 1 and 2). Background The Louisiana pearlshell mussel is a federally threatened species of bivalve mollusk in the family Margaritiferidae and is endemic to central Louisiana. Existing populations are known from headwater streams in Rapides and Grant Parishes. The mussel was first classified as endangered on February 5, 1988, under the Endangered Species Act (Act). At the time of listing, the LPM was thought to be restricted to 11 streams in the Bayou Boeuf and Bayou Rapides drainages of Rapides Parish, Louisiana. After the initial listing, the mussel was discovered in the Bayou Rigolette drainage of Grant Parish, Louisiana, in 1991. The LPM is currently distributed across four management watersheds: Bayou Rapides and Bayou Boeuf south of the Red River in Rapides Parish and Black Creek and Bayou Rigolette north of the Red River in Grant Parish (Figure 3). Occupied streams are found in drainage areas that cross both privately owned and publicly owned lands in both parishes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) reclassified the mussel from endangered to threatened on September 24, 1993 (USFWS 2017). Currently, there is a Revised Recovery Plan for Louisiana Pearlshell (USFWS 2019) that contains a recovery strategy. The recovery strategy is to eliminate or 3 Figure 1. Proposed action watersheds, Catahoula Ranger District 4 Figure 2. Proposed action watersheds, Evangeline Unit of the Calcasieu Ranger District 5 minimize threats in order to promote