DRAFT Environmental Assessment
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DRAFT Environmental Assessment For issuance of an Endangered Species Act Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permit for incidental take of Fender’s blue butterfly in Yamhill County. Yamhill Soil and Water Conservation District McMinnville, Oregon U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Portland, Oregon December 2014 Title for Proposed Action: Environmental Assessment for issuance of an Endangered Species Act Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permit for Incidental Take of Fender’s Blue Butterfly in Yamhill County. Unit of Fish and Wildlife Service Proposing Action: US Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon. Legal Mandate for Proposed Action: Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, Section 10(a)(1)(B), as implemented by 50 CFR 17.22 for endangered species; National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as implemented by 40 CFR 1500, et. seq. Applicant: Yamhill Soil and Water Conservation District. Date: December 2014. This document was prepared for U.S. Fish and Wildlife by staff at the Institute for Applied Ecology: Lorena Wisehart, Conservation Biologist Carolyn Menke, Conservation Biologist Tom Kaye, Executive Director & Senior Ecologist The Institute for Applied Ecology is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to conserve native ecosystems through restoration, research, and education. P.O. Box 2855 Corvallis, OR 97339-2855 (541)753-3099 www.appliedeco.org Yamhill SWCD Fender’s Blue Butterfly HCP EA Contents Contents 1 Purpose and Need for Action ................................................................................................................ 4 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 4 1.2 Purpose ......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Need .............................................................................................................................................. 4 1.4 Location and Scope ....................................................................................................................... 5 2 Alternatives ........................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Proposed Action Alternative ......................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Individual Permits Alternative .................................................................................................... 11 2.3 No Action Alternative .................................................................................................................. 11 2.4 Alternatives Considered and Rejected ........................................................................................ 11 3 Description of the Affected Environment ........................................................................................... 13 3.1 Physiographic Setting .................................................................................................................. 13 3.2 Climate ........................................................................................................................................ 13 3.3 Topography and Soils .................................................................................................................. 15 3.4 Upland Prairie Habitat ................................................................................................................ 16 3.5 Wildlife and Fish .......................................................................................................................... 16 3.6 Protected Species ........................................................................................................................ 18 3.7 Water Resources (Quantity and Quality) .................................................................................... 24 3.8 Air Quality and Noise .................................................................................................................. 30 3.9 Cultural and Historical Resources ............................................................................................... 31 3.10 Land Use and Ownership and Socio-Economic Factors .............................................................. 32 3.11 Transportation ............................................................................................................................ 38 4 Environmental Consequences ............................................................................................................ 40 4.1 Climate ........................................................................................................................................ 40 4.2 Topography and Soils .................................................................................................................. 41 4.3 Upland Prairie Habitat ................................................................................................................ 41 4.4 Wildlife and Fish .......................................................................................................................... 42 4.5 Protected Species ........................................................................................................................ 42 4.6 Water Resources ......................................................................................................................... 51 4.7 Air Quality and Noise .................................................................................................................. 52 4.8 Cultural and Historical Resources ............................................................................................... 53 4.9 Land Use, Socio-economic Factors, and Environmental Justice ................................................. 53 4.10 Transportation ............................................................................................................................ 54 i Yamhill SWCD Fender’s Blue Butterfly HCP EA Contents 4.11 Cumulative Effects ...................................................................................................................... 54 4.12 Summary of Effects ..................................................................................................................... 57 5 Consultation and Coordination with Others ....................................................................................... 59 5.1 Yamhill SWCD .............................................................................................................................. 59 5.2 Public Meetings ........................................................................................................................... 59 5.3 Public Outreach ........................................................................................................................... 59 5.4 Stakeholder Advisory Committee ............................................................................................... 59 5.5 Technical Advisory Committee ................................................................................................... 60 5.6 HCP Planning Team ..................................................................................................................... 60 5.7 Public Review of Draft Environmental Assessment .................................................................... 60 6 Glossary and Acronyms ....................................................................................................................... 61 7 References .......................................................................................................................................... 65 ii Yamhill SWCD Fender’s Blue Butterfly HCP EA Contents List of Tables Table 2.1 Current and projected future land use within the HCP Plan Area (PA). ..................................... 10 Table 3.1 Dominant soil types of the Plan Area. Source USDA NRCS SSURGO 2.2 Database. .................... 16 Table 3.2 Listed, proposed, and candidate species with the potential to occur in Yamhill County (USFWS 2013). ............................................................................................................................................. 18 Table 3.3 EPA 303(d) water quality limited streams in Yamhill County. .................................................... 27 Table 3.4 Water quality limited streams in the Plan Area. ......................................................................... 27 Table 3.5 Land use in the Yamhill basin (Yamhill River Subbasin Local Advisory Committee 2009). ......... 32 Table 3.6 Zoning Classifications in the Plan Area. ....................................................................................... 34 Table 3.7 Land ownership in the Yamhill basin (Yamhill County and a portion of Polk County) (Yamhill River Subbasin Local Advisory Committee 2009). ......................................................................... 36 Table 4.1 Estimated impacts to Fender’s blue habitat from Covered Activities over the 50-year HCP ITP term, in acres and square meters of foliar (leaf) cover (at 100% lupine ground cover). .............. 44 Table 4.2 Impacts to Fender’s blue butterfly host and nectar plants within the pasture areas (and areas projected to become pasture) of the HCP Plan Area over the course of the ITP. Estimates based on