U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Opinion FWS- LA-09B0027-09F0040 San Clemente Island Military Operations and Fire Management Plan 2008 Los Angeles, California Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office Carlsbad, California November 2008 i TABLE OF CONTENTS CONSULTATION HISTORY..................................................................................................... 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION ......................................................................................................... 3 ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE............................................................................................. 66 CUMULATIVE EFFECTS........................................................................................................ 75 SPECIES BY SPECIES EVALUATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS ....................................... 76 Plants..................................................................................................................................... 76 San Clemente Island Bush mallow (Malacothamnus clementinus) ................................ 76 San Clemente Island Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja grisea) ............................................ 91 San Clemente Island larkspur (Delphinium variegatum var. kinkiense)....................... 102 San Clemente Island broom (Lotus dendroideus var. traskiae).................................... 113 San Clemente Island woodland star (Lithophragma maximum) ................................... 122 Santa Cruz Island Rock-Cress (Sibara filifolia)............................................................ 130 Birds.................................................................................................................................... 141 Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) ....................................................................... 141 San Clemente Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus mearnsi) ............................... 150 San Clemente Sage Sparrow (Amphispiza belli clementeae)........................................ 167 Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosis) .......................................... 185 Reptile ................................................................................................................................. 193 Island night lizard (Xantusia riversiana)....................................................................... 193 INCIDENTAL TAKE STATEMENT .................................................................................... 206 AMOUNT OR EXTENT OF TAKE....................................................................................... 207 EFFECT OF THE TAKE ........................................................................................................ 210 REASONABLE AND PRUDENT MEASURES.................................................................... 210 TERMS AND CONDITIONS.................................................................................................. 211 CONSERVATION RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................................ 213 LITERATURE CITED ............................................................................................................ 217 FIGURES / MAPS Figure 1a-e. San Clemente Island Listed Species and Proposed Training Areas .......................... 5 Figure 2. Locations of SWATS and TARs on San Clemente Island........................................... 21 Figure 3. Modified boundary for TAR 11 ................................................................................... 25 Figure 4. Revised boundary of Tar 16 ......................................................................................... 28 Figure 5a-c. Location of BTS Sites.............................................................................................. 34 Figure 6. Location of IOA, AVMAs, AFPs, and AMPs on San Clemente Island....................... 44 Figure 7. San Clemente Island 2007-2008 Existing Fuelbreaks, and General Location for Proposed Fuelbreaks. .................................................................................................................... 57 Figure 8. Land Management Units on San Clemente Island ....................................................... 73 ii TABLES Table 1. Frequency of Current Operations and Proposed Increases in Frequency...................... 11 Table 2. TAR Ranges and BTS Sites on San Clemente Island.................................................... 31 Table 3. Proposed New Operations and New Uses in Existing Training Areas.......................... 37 Table 4. Battalion Landing Vehicles and Locations..................................................................... 43 Table 5. Fire Danger Rating and Precautions for SHOBA.......................................................... 53 Table 6. Fire Danger Rating and Precautions System for TARs outside of SHOBA.................. 54 Table 7. Ecological Units, Acreages, and Percentages of Island Area for San Clemente Island 71 Table 8. Natural Resources Management Activities and Studies for Listed Species Funded in 2008............................................................................................................................................... 74 Table 9. Linear abundance of nesting loggerhead shrikes on San Clemente Island from selected canyons (1994-2004) .................................................................................................................. 155 Table 10. San Clemente Island Loggerhead Shrike Breeding Pairs from 1994 to 2007 ........... 155 Table 11. Distribution of shrike nest sites in and within 305 m (1,000 ft) of operational areas.156 Table 12. Sage sparrow adult population estimates 1976-2008 (from Kaiser et al. 2008)........ 170 Table 13. Percentage of Estimated Population (Density–based estimate) Within Density Categories ................................................................................................................................... 173 Table 14. Sage Sparrow Habitat Within Operational Boundaries ............................................. 174 Table 15. Number of Sage Sparrows Within Operational Boundaries Based on Density Category Estimates, 1999-2006.................................................................................................................. 175 Table 16. Midpoint of Regression and Lincoln Index estimates of population density and population size of island night lizard on San Clemente Island................................................... 198 Table 17. Island night lizard habitat (acres and percent of habitat type) within project footprint ..................................................................................................................................................... 201 Table 18. Estimated number of island night lizards (number / percent of population) within the project footprint from habitat-based density estimates in Table 16 (Mautz 2001)..................... 201 Acronyms and Abbreviations Used in the San Clemente Island Military Operations and Fire Management Plan Biological Opinion A AA Assault Amphibian AAV Amphibious Assault Vehicles ac Acre or acres Act Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) AFP Artillery Firing Point AMP Artillery Maneuver Point ASW Anti-Submarine Warfare ATACMS Army Tactical Missile System AVMA Assault Vehicle Maneuver Area AVMC Assault Vehicle Maneuver Corridor iii AVMR Assault Vehicle Maneuver Road B BA Biological Assessment BAT Ballistic Aerial Target BMP Best Management Practice BOMBEX Bombing Exercise BTS Basic Training Sites BUD/S Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL BUDS Basic Underwater Demolition School C CAS Close Air Support CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act cm centimeter or centimeters CNDDB California Natural Diversity Database CNRSW Commander, Naval Region Southwest COMPUTEX Composite Training Unit Exercise CPF Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet CQC Close quarter combat CRRC Combat Rubber Raiding Craft CSAR Combat Search and Rescue D DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid DPS Distinct Population Segment DT Developmental Testing DZ Drop Zone E EA Environmental Assessment EC Electronic Combat EFEX Expeditionary Firing Exercise EFV Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle EOD Explosive Ordnance Disposal F FCLP Fleet Carrier Landing Practice FDRS Fire Danger Rating System FIREX Firing Exercise FLETA HOT Fleet Training Area Hot FMP Fire Management Plan FOT&E Follow-on Test and Evaluation FR Federal Register FSCEX Fire Support Coordination Exercise iv ft foot or feet FTX Field training exercise G g gram or grams GPS Global Positioning Satellite H ha hectare or hectares HMMWV High mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle I IAD Immediate Action Drills in. inch or inches INLMA Island Night Lizard Management Area INRMP Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan INS Inertial Navigation System IOA Infantry Operations Area J JSOW Joint Standoff Weapon JTFEX Joint Task Force Exercise K kg kilogram or kilograms km kilometer or kilometers km/h kilometers-per-hour L LACA Landing Craft Air-Cushion LASW Land Attack Standard Missile LAW Light Anti-tank Weapon LAV Light Armored Vehicles lb pound or pounds LCU Landing Craft Utilities M m meter or meters MAROPS Maritime Operations MCBCP Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton MPPEH Munitions Potentially Possessing Explosive Hazards MCM Mine Counter-Measures METT-T Mission Enemy Terrain, Troops available and Time MEU Marine Expeditionary Unit mi. mile or miles v MIR Missile Impact Range