Biological Assessment for the Prescott National Forest Land And

United States Department of Agriculture Biological Assessment for the Forest Service Prescott National Forest Southwestern Region Land and Resource January 2014 Management Plan FINAL Coconino and Yavapai Counties, Arizona Contents Contents ...................................................................................................................................... iii List of Acronyms .......................................................................................................................... v Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 Background ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Biological Assessment Objectives .......................................................................................................... 2 Consultation History ............................................................................................................................... 2 Species Addressed .................................................................................................................................. 3 Description of the Action Area ............................................................................................................... 6 Proposed Action ......................................................................................................................... 14 Background ........................................................................................................................................... 14 Description of the Proposed Action by Program Area ......................................................................... 15 Environmental Baseline ........................................................................................................................ 46 Analysis Process ......................................................................................................................... 51 Types of Data and Data Sources ........................................................................................................... 51 Review of Plan Components ................................................................................................................ 52 Analysis Assumptions .......................................................................................................................... 53 Species/Critical Habitat Information .......................................................................................... 55 Fish ....................................................................................................................................................... 55 Reptiles ............................................................................................................................................... 138 Birds ................................................................................................................................................... 169 Literature Cited ......................................................................................................................... 228 Appendix A. Consultation Agreement ..................................................................................... 243 List of Tables Table 1. Federally listed, proposed, and candidate species and designated, proposed, or potential critical habitats (CH) addressed in this BA ........................................................................................................ 4 Table 2. Hierarchy of hydrologic units intersecting with the Prescott NF...................................................... 8 Table 3. Overall watershed condition class ratings on the Prescott NF .........................................................10 Table 4. Aquatic species no longer present ...................................................................................................11 Table 5. Current conditions of PNVTs found on the Prescott NF .................................................................13 Table 6. Projected acres treated after 10 years and expected outcomes by PNVT ........................................27 Table 7. Projected 10-year harvest volume by product type, vegetation type, and area ................................44 Table 8. Population trends for Yavapai County compared to Arizona and the U.S. .....................................49 Table 9. Summary of LRMP desired conditions that support species recovery ............................................52 Table 10. Gila chub critical habitat – primary constituent elements .............................................................56 Table 11. Gila chub distribution and status on the Prescott National Forest .................................................57 Table 12. Subwatershed ownerships in Gila chub analysis area....................................................................58 Table 13. Subwatershed conditions by selected WCC indicators in Gila chub analysis area ........................59 Table 14. Gila trout distribution and status on the Prescott National Forest .................................................81 Table 15. Summary of 6th level HUC subwatersheds in the Gila trout analysis area ....................................81 Table 16. Subwatershed conditions by selected WCC indicators in the Gila trout analysis area ..................82 Table 17. Spikedace critical habitat – primary constituent elements .............................................................90 Table 18. Spike dace distribution and status on the Prescott National Forest ...............................................91 Table 19. Watershed ownership in the spikedace analysis area ....................................................................92 Table 20. Watershed conditions by selected WCC indicators in the Spikedace Analysis Area ....................93 Table 21. Loach minnow critical habitat – primary constituent elements ...................................................107 Table 22. Loach minnow distribution and status on the Prescott National Forest .......................................108 Table 23. Razorback critical habitat – primary constituent elements ..........................................................111 Table 24. Razorback sucker distribution and status on the Prescott National Forest ..................................112 Table 25. Roundtail chub distribution and status on the Prescott National Forest ......................................128 Table 26. Watershed ownership for the roundtail chub analysis area .........................................................129 Biological Assessment for the Prescott NF LRMP iii Table 27. Watershed conditions by selected WCC indicators in the roundtail chub analysis area ..............130 Table 28. Northern Mexican gartersnake proposed critical habitat – primary constituent elements ...........139 Table 29. Northern Mexican gartersnake distribution and status on the Prescott National Forest ..............141 Table 30. Watershed ownership for the northern Mexican gartersnake Analysis Area ...............................142 Table 31. Watershed conditions by selected WCC indicators in the northern Mexican gartersnake Analysis Area ....................................................................................................................................................143 Table 32. Narrow-headed gartersnake proposed critical habitat – primary constituent elements ...............157 Table 33. Narrow-headed gartersnake distribution and status on the Prescott National Forest ...................159 Table 34. Summary of impacts to Sonoran desert tortoise by program .......................................................169 Table 35. Summary of impacts to Mexican spotted owl by program ..........................................................183 Table 36. Primary constituent elements (PCE) for Mexican spotted owl critical habitat ............................184 Table 37. Summary of impacts to Mexican spotted owl critical habitat by program ..................................193 Table 38. Critical habitat distribution for southwestern willow flycatcher .................................................195 Table 39. Summary of impacts to Southwestern willow flycatcher by program .........................................203 Table 40. Southwestern willow flycatcher critical habitat – primary constituent elements .........................203 Table 41. Summary of impacts to Southwestern willow flycatcher critical habitat by program .................210 Table 42. Summary of impacts to yellow-billed cuckoo by program ..........................................................219 Table 43. Western yellow-billed cuckoo critical habitat – proposed primary constituent elements ............220 Table 44. Summary of impacts to yellow-billed cuckoo potential critical habitat by program ...................226 List of Figures Figure 1. Vicinity map of the Prescott NF ...................................................................................................... 7 Figure 2. 5th level hydrologic units (watersheds) on the Prescott NF ............................................................. 9 Figure 3. Visual example of plan component ................................................................................................15 Figure 4. General areas occupied

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