U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Barren
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U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Final Environmental Assessment Barren Valley Complex Wild Horse Population Management Plan U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Vale District/Malheur Field Office 100 Oregon St., Vale, OR Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION, PURPOSE OF, AND NEED FOR ACTION ...................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Purpose of and Need for Action ....................................................................................... 2 1.4 Land Use Plan Conformance............................................................................................ 2 1.5 Relationship to Laws, Regulations, and Other Plans ....................................................... 2 1.6 Decision to be Made ......................................................................................................... 3 1.7 Scoping and Identification of Issues ................................................................................ 3 1.8 Issues Considered but not Analyzed ................................................................................ 4 2.0 PROPOSED ACTION AND ALTERNATIVES ................................................................ 4 2.1 Management Actions Common to Alternatives 1-4 ......................................................... 4 2.1.1 Project Design Features ............................................................................................ 4 2.1.2 Monitoring ................................................................................................................ 6 2.2 Description of Alternatives Considered in Detail ............................................................ 6 2.2.1 Alternative 1. Proposed Action - Remove Excess Wild Horses and Implement Intensive Fertility Control Management ................................................................................. 6 2.2.2 Alternative 2: Gather and Removal including a Non-reproducing Portion of the Population ............................................................................................................................... 9 2.2.3 Alternative 3: Fertility Control Vaccines Only ....................................................... 10 2.2.4 Alternative 4: Gather and Removal Only ............................................................... 11 2.2.5 Alternative 5: No Action – Defer Gather and Removal ......................................... 11 2.3 Alternatives Considered but Eliminated from Detailed Analysis .................................. 11 A) Closure of HMA to Livestock Use ............................................................................. 11 B) Complete Removal of Wild Horses from the HMA ................................................... 11 C) Removal of Wild Horses from the HMA Using Bait and Water Trapping Only ....... 11 D) Gather by Horseback Only ......................................................................................... 11 E) Wild Horse Numbers Controlled by Natural Means .................................................. 11 3.0 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES ........... 11 3.1 General Description........................................................................................................ 11 3.2 Description of Affected Resources/Issues...................................................................... 11 3.2.1 Wild Horses ............................................................................................................ 14 3.2.2 Livestock Grazing Management ............................................................................. 44 i 3.2.3 Upland Vegetation .................................................................................................. 48 3.2.4 Special Status Species and Habitat ......................................................................... 51 3.2.5 Migratory Birds ....................................................................................................... 55 3.2.6 Wildlife and Locally Important Species ................................................................. 56 3.2.7 Noxious Weeds ....................................................................................................... 58 3.2.8 Hydrology and Riparian-Wetland Areas ................................................................ 59 3.2.9 Upland Soils and Biological Crusts ....................................................................... 60 3.2.10 Social and Economic Values .................................................................................. 62 4.0 CUMULATIVE EFFECTS ............................................................................................... 67 4.1 Past Actions .................................................................................................................... 67 4.2 Present Actions .............................................................................................................. 68 4.3 Reasonably Foreseeable Future Actions ........................................................................ 69 4.4 Summary of Past, Present, and Reasonably Foreseeable Future Actions ...................... 70 5.0 CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION ................................................................... 71 5.1 Agencies and Individuals Consulted .............................................................................. 71 5.2 Interdisciplinary Team ................................................................................................... 71 6.0 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 72 7.0 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... 88 Appendix A – Barren Valley Complex Vicinity Map .................................................................. 89 Appendix B – Coyote Lake/Alvord-Tule Springs Herd Management Area Map .................... 90 Appendix B – Sheepshead/Heath Creek Herd Management Area Map ................................... 91 Appendix B – Sand Springs Herd Management Area Map ...................................................... 92 Appendix C - Issues Considered But Not Analyzed in Detail .................................................. 93 Appendix D – IM 2015-151 COMPREHENSIVE ANIMAL WELFARE PROGRAM FOR WILD HORSE AND BURRO GATHERS .............................................................................. 94 Appendix E – IM 2009-090 Standard Operating Procedures for Population-level Fertility Control Treatments ................................................................................................................. 106 Appendix F – Genetics Information ....................................................................................... 109 Appendix G – Scientific Literature Review............................................................................ 112 Appendix H - WinEquus Population Modeling ...................................................................... 145 Tables Table 1: Supplemental Authorities and Other Elements Potentially Affected by Action ............ 12 Table 2: Barren Valley Complex - Gather History since 1974 ..................................................... 16 ii Table 3: Average Population Size, Growth Rates and Next Projected Gather Year .................. 110 Table 4: Livestock Use Information ............................................................................................. 45 Table 5: Livestock Use Information ..................................................................................... ……46 Table 6: Livestock Use Information ............................................................................................. 46 Table 7: Acres and percentage of PHMA, GHMA, and areas within four miles of occupied and pending sage-grouse leks within the HMAs…………………………………………………..…52 Table 8: Number of leks and 2019 Status within HMAs .............................................................. 63 Table 9: Barren Valley Complex Weed Sites ............................................................................... 63 Table 10: Number of horses and burros BLM manages nationally, on and off the range. ........... 63 Table A: Genetic Variability Measures Comparison .................................................................... 63 iii BARREN VALLEY COMPLEX WILD HORSE POPULATON MANAGEMENT PLAN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT DOI-BLM-ORWA-V000-2019-0040-EA 1.0 INTRODUCTION, PURPOSE OF, AND NEED FOR ACTION 1.1 Introduction The Vale District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to gather and remove excess wild horses and implement population control measures on wild horses from the Barren Valley Complex in order to achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and manage the wild horse population within Appropriate Management Level (AML) over a ten-year time frame. Various methods of gathering and removal of wild horses are available (i.e. helicopter drive trapping, bait/water trapping, and horseback drive trapping). The method(s) to be used would be determined by the authorized officer. This Environmental Assessment (EA) is a site-specific analysis of