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Biological Opinion on the Effects of Bureau of Land

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Biological Opinion on the Effects of Bureau of Land BIOLOGICAL OPINION ON THE EFFECTS OF BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT ONGOING LIVESTOCK GRAZING ACTIONS IN IDAHO ON THE SLICKSPOT PEPPERGRASS (LEPIDIUM PAPILLIFERUM) 14420-2010-F-0025 January 25, 2010 FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE IDAHO FISH AND WILDLIFE OFFICE BOISE, IDAHO Biological Opinion 14420-2010-F-0025 State of Idaho Bureau of Land Management Individual Ongoing Actions Table of Contents CHAPTER 1. BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Consultation History .............................................................................................................. 1 1.3. Consultation Context ............................................................................................................. 4 1.3.1. Previous Related Consultations ....................................................................................... 4 BIOLOGICAL OPINION ............................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE ONGOING ACTIONS .................................................. 6 2.1. Individual Ongoing Actions .................................................................................................. 6 2.2. Conservation Agreement and Candidate Conservation Agreement for the Slickspot Peppergrass ................................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 3. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE JEOPARDY DETERMINATION . 20 CHAPTER 4. STATUS OF THE SPECIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................. 21 4.1. Status of the Species ............................................................................................................ 21 4.1.1. Regulatory Status ........................................................................................................... 21 4.1.2. Reasons for Listing ........................................................................................................ 21 4.1.3. Species Description ........................................................................................................ 22 4.1.4. Life History .................................................................................................................... 22 4.1.5. Genetics .......................................................................................................................... 24 4.1.6. Rangewide Status and Distribution ................................................................................ 25 4.1.7. Population Dynamics ..................................................................................................... 25 4.1.8. Habitat Characteristics ................................................................................................... 29 4.1.9. Population Trends .......................................................................................................... 32 4.1.10. Survival and Recovery Needs ...................................................................................... 33 4.1.11. Ongoing Conservation Efforts ..................................................................................... 37 4.2. Environmental Baseline ....................................................................................................... 39 4.2.1. Status of Slickspot Peppergrass in the Action Areas ..................................................... 39 4.2.2. Factors Affecting the Species in the Action Areas ........................................................ 39 CHAPTER 5. EFFECTS OF THE ACTIONS AND CUMULATIVE EFFECTS ....................... 50 5.1. Overview of the Effects of the Actions Analyses ............................................................... 50 5.2. Boise District Ongoing Actions ........................................................................................... 56 30#3-$ ," ,%#+#,2,%-',% '4#12-!)08',%!2'-,1'-*-%'!*.','-, %#' Biological Opinion 14420-2010-F-0025 State of Idaho Bureau of Land Management Individual Ongoing Actions 5.2.1. Livestock Grazing Permits ............................................................................................. 57 5.3. Jarbidge Field Office Ongoing Actions ............................................................................. 176 5.3.1. Livestock Grazing Permits ........................................................................................... 186 5.4. Effects Summary ............................................................................................................... 226 5.4.1. Summary of Ongoing Actions Effects Determinations ............................................... 226 5.5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 252 CHAPTER 6. INCIDENTAL TAKE STATEMENT ................................................................. 254 6.1. Incidental Take Statement ................................................................................................. 254 6.2. Conservation Recommendations ....................................................................................... 254 CHAPTER 7 REINITIATION ................................................................................................... 257 7.1. Reinitiation-Closing Statement ......................................................................................... 257 CHAPTER 8. LITERATURE CITED ........................................................................................ 258 8.1. Published Literature ........................................................................................................... 258 8.2. In Litt. ................................................................................................................................ 267 8.3. Personal Communications ................................................................................................. 268 List of Tables Table 1. Ongoing Bureau Actions Considered in this Biological Opinion..................................... 7 Table 2. Conservation Agreement (CA) Conservation Measures Applicable at the Ongoing Action Level for Ongoing Livestock Grazing Actions (from pages VI-3 – IV-9 of the Assessment as updated by the Bureau on 12/2/09) ....................................................................... 12 Table 3. Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) Conservation Measures Applicable at Ongoing Action Level for Livestock Grazing Actions (from pages VI-10 – IV-14 of the Assessment as updated by the Bureau of Land Management on 12/2/09) ................................... 17 Table 4 Distribution and landownership of slickspot peppergrass (Lepidium papilliferum) Element Occurrences (EOs) by physiographic region (Cole 2009, threats table; Sullivan and Nations 2009, p. 77). All areas are estimates and may not total exactly due to rounding. ........... 27 Table 5. Element Occurrences (EOs) entirely or partially on Bureau of Land Management lands by Element Occurrence rank ......................................................................................................... 39 Table 6. Bureau Terms and Conditions for Grazing Authorizations in the Boise District (from page IV-20 of the Assessment) ..................................................................................................... 57 Table 7. Bureau Management Guidelines for Grazing Authorizations in the Boise District (from page IV-20 of the Assessment) ..................................................................................................... 58 Table 8. Bureau terms and conditions applied to grazing allotments in the Jarbidge Field Office (Bureau 2009, Table IV.E01 on pp. IV-402 through IV-404) .................................................... 178 30#3-$ ," ,%#+#,2,%-',% '4#12-!)08',%!2'-,1'-*-%'!*.','-, %#'' Biological Opinion 14420-2010-F-0025 State of Idaho Bureau of Land Management Individual Ongoing Actions Table 9. Bureau Management Guidelines Applied to Grazing Allotments in the Jarbidge Field Office (Bureau 2009, Table IV.E-2 on pp. IV-405 through IV-409) ......................................... 180 Table 10. General prescriptions applied to grazing allotments in the Jarbidge Field Office ...... 186 Table 11. Summary of effects of 27 ongoing Bureau livestock grazing actions on the slickspot peppergrass. ................................................................................................................................ 228 List of Figures Figure 1. Bureau of Land Management Field Office locations in Idaho and the distribution of the slickspot peppergrass ...................................................................................................................... 8 Figure 2. The range of the slickspot peppergrass (Lepidium papilliferum) in southwest Idaho, showing its distribution in the Snake River Plain, Boise Foothills, and Owyhee Plateau. Approximately 87 percent of the total Element Occurrence acreage shown on the map above is addressed in this Biological Opinion. ........................................................................................... 26 List of Appendices APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................
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