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Affected Environment Wildlife, Vegetation and Fish

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Affected Environment Wildlife, Vegetation and Fish ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT REGIONAL AIRPORT Appendix 5 WILDLIFE, VEGETATION AND FISH, AND WETLANDS TECHNICAL MEMORANDUMS Affected Environment Wildlife, Vegetation and Fish Introduction The Grand Junction Airport area of potential effect (APE) includes both private land and land currently managed by Bureau of Land Management (BLM). A brief overview of the APE landscape provides an indication of the extent of land use and lack of native plant communities. Adjacent to the developed airport area, which supports airport buildings, ramps, runways and a taxiway, the private land contains graded areas and natural areas consisting of salt desert shrub communities in the adobe badlands. The BLM land, located to the north of the airport private property, is heavily utilized by OHV (off- highway vehicles) resulting in a severely damaged landscape. The parking areas along side 271/4 Road are completely denuded of vegetation as are the adjacent adobe hills. Farther to the east, additional areas of severe habitat destruction are marked by roads on nearly every hilltop and on surrounding slopes. Vegetation that remains consists of saltbush species and annual plants on the hills and slopes and greasewood and rabbitbrush in the arroyos. Given the landscape condition the presence of wildlife typically associated with the adobe badlands is limited. However, to fully describe the plant and wildlife that may be present in this area, several sources of information were utilized to document the plants, wildlife and their habitat within the project boundary. These sources include: USGS 7.5 Topographical Map, Corcoran Point and Grand Junction Quadrangles Aerial photographs NRCS Mesa County Soil Survey BLM correspondence data Colorado Natural Heritage Program correspondence data USFWS correspondence Colorado Native Plant Society, Rare Plants of Colorado, second edition (1997) Andrews and Righter, Colorado Birds (1992) Righter et al. Birds of Western Colorado Plateau and Mesa County (2004) Hammerson, Amphibians and Reptiles in Colorado (1999) Fitzgerald et al. Mammals of Colorado (1994) Dexter et al. Bird Check List for Mesa County, Colorado (1995) Kingery, Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas (1998) Weber, Colorado Flora Western Slope (2001) Also, descriptions of critical habitats for federally listed threatened, endangered and candidate fish and wildlife species were reviewed in the Federal Register, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In addition, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) (2009) has published a list of sensitive species and their habitats. This list includes federally listed endangered, threatened, and candidate species likely to occur on BLM lands. A list of Birds of Conservation Concern (BCC) and their habitats was also reviewed. This list is published by the USFWS through a Memorandum of Understanding with the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), which places high conservation priorities for BCC species (USFWS, 2008). Not all of these BCC species occur regularly in Colorado, and some are present only as seasonal migrants. Of those known to breed in Colorado, only a select few are known or suspected to breed within the vicinity of the airport. Avian literature sources such as the Birds of Western Colorado Plateau and Mesa County (Righter et al. 2004) and the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas (Kingery 1998) were reviewed to determine the likelihood for species occurrence within the survey area. Also reviewed was Dexter et al. (1995) Bird Check List for Mesa County, Colorado. The bird identification and taxonomic nomenclature are in accordance with that applied by the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas Project (Kingery 1998). Information on reptiles and amphibians came from Hammerson (1999). Fitzgerald et al. (1994) provides information on mammal habitats and geographic distribution In addition, the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) was contacted via letter in April 2010, and the USFWS and the Colorado Division of Wildlife were contacted via letters in May 2010 with requests for information on known federally threatened and endangered species, sensitive species or species of concern, areas of potential ecological concern, or significant/critical wildlife habitat, unique natural communities, or other significant features within the sections, ranges and townships of the airport. The Heritage program responded, but the Colorado Division of Wildlife did not respond. Calls to the USFWS and their response indicated that they would rely on species lists provided by the BLM. Because the BLM property will become a part of the airport property through dispersal, the BLM requested surveys for several plant species, prairie dog towns and burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia) and raptors if nesting habitat was located within 1/2 mile of the APE boundary. The BLM further refined their list of Grand Junction Field Office special status plants by indicating those species that might be encountered in the APE. This information was provided to the survey team prior to field work. The BLM also requested surveys for prairie dog colony location and burrowing owls. Field Methodologies Plants Since all of plant species of interest bloom in spring, field surveys were planned for and conducted during the spring of 2010 on May 5-7 and May 11-14. An additional survey was conducted on June 30 to confirm locations of Grand buckwheat populations and individuals of the smallflower fishhook cactus. A pre-survey field site visit with the BLM Grand Junction Field Office Ecologist was conducted. Known sites of the Grand buckwheat and the smallflower fishhook cactus west of the APE were visited. In addition to the pre-survey field visits, the survey team, which consisted of two individuals, reviewed the Rare Plant Field Guide for the special status species. A team member also visited the Colorado State University herbarium to examine the special status plant species. The field survey team utilized an intuitive controlled method of surveying the area. Since much the proposed BLM dispersal land was highly disturbed due to off-highway vehicles (OHV) use, the team concentrated on areas where the landscape was not denuded of vegetation. The abundance of roads enabled the team to access the area relatively easily with ATVs. The team drove all of the roads that would allow access to side slopes and drainages that supported vegetation. After dismounting the ATVs, the survey team walked the drainages and the alluvial fans in search of special status plant species. In addition, the team walked transects approximately 75 m apart on 3 days. Four transects ran north to south on the west side of the 27-1/4 Road. An additional four transects, east of 27-1/4 Road and south of the Airport Operation Area, ran east to west. Another 2 transects on BLM land were walked from east to west. Other transects occurred on airport property south of the proposed BLM dispersal land. Additional foot surveys were completed in the very northern reaches of the BLM dispersal parcel. Approximately 77 person-hours were spent surveying for the special status plants. Wildlife Prairie dog colony mapping took place in early morning and late afternoon when the animals were above ground foraging. It was customary to walk or drive to a high point and view the surrounding flats through binoculars and spotting scope. Locations of observed prairie dogs were plotted on 7.5-minute topo maps. Only active burrows were mapped. By far the most time during the survey was consumed by the burrowing owl nest site search. In 2010, BLM Grand Junction Field Office adopted the protocol developed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife (2007). In this method, after prairie dog colony mapping, call stations are set up approximately 500 meters apart, or as far apart as necessary to view the entire prairie dog colony (owl nesting habitat). Recorded owl calls are played over a ten-minute period at each station while the observer searches the colony with binoculars and spotting scope. Searches must be carried out in the morning between one-half hour before to two hours after sunrise, and again in late afternoon between two hours before sunset to one-half hour after sunset. This procedure must be conducted again the following week and the week after that for a total of six visits to each station. Calling took place June 7, 16, and 23. Follow-up visits using binocular scans but no calling were made June 30 and July 15. Call stations were set up so that during a given 2 ½-hour session, all prairie dog colonies within the APE plus a surrounding ¼-mile buffer would be covered. As a result, both BLM and airport property were searched for nesting owls. All call stations were located atop ridges or hills. Informal pedestrian surveys for owl nest burrows were conducted on a random basis in suitable habitat. Occupied nest burrows are readily identified even if no adult owls are observed at the time (Photo 3). Searches for other species took place concurrently with the prairie dog mapping and burrowing owl surveys. In the case of kit fox, all canid scats and tracks were examined, and all burrow openings of approximately eight inches in diameter or more were examined for fox sign. All locations were determined by use of hand-held GPS (global positioning system) unit. Results from the BLM, USFWS and the Colorado Natural Heritage Program Based on correspondence from the BLM dated March 25, 2010 and the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) dated April 13, 2010, and the USFWS dated May 17, 2010 there are no known occurrences of federally threatened or endangered species, or significant natural areas within the APE. However, the BLM indicated known locations of Colorado hookless cactus (Sclerocactus glaucus) and smallflower fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus parviflorus) to the west of the APE. The survey team visited the smallflower fishhook cactus site and found two specimens. The status of special status plant species provided by the BLM is presented in Table 1.
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