BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION SENSITIVE PLANTS AND FUNGI TAHOE NATIONAL FOREST AMERICAN RIVER RANGER DISTRICT BIG HOPE FIRE SALVAGE AND RESTORATION PROJECT Prepared by: KATHY VAN ZUUK Plant Ecologist/Botanist TNF Nonnative Invasive Plant Coordinator February 27, 2014 A Portion of the American Wildfire Area along Foresthill Divide Road 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Topic Page Executive Summary 4 Introduction 6 Consultation to Date 6 Current Management Direction 8 Alternative Descriptions 9 Existing Environment 11 Description of Affected Sensitive Species Habitat Effects Analysis and 20 Determinations Reasonably Foreseeable Actions/Time Frames for the Analysis/ List of 20 Assumptions Effects to Species without potential habitat in the Project Area 22 • Lemmon’s milk-vetch, Astragalus lemmonii 22 • Modoc Plateau milk-vetch, Astragalus pulsiferae var. coronensis 22 • Sierra Valley Ivesia, Ivesia aperta var. aperta 22 • Dog Valley Ivesia, Ivesia aperta var. canina 23 • Plumas Ivesia, Ivesia sericoleuca 23 • Webber’s Ivesia, Ivesia webberi 23 • Wet-cliff Lewisia, Lewisia cantelovii 24 • Long-petaled Lewisia, Lewisia longipetala 24 • Follett’s mint, Monardella follettii 24 • Layne’s butterweed, Packera layneae 24 • White bark pine, Pinus albicaulis 25 • Sticky Pyrrocoma, Pyrrocoma lucida 25 Effects to Species with potential habitat in the Project Area 26 • Webber’s Milkvetch, Astragalus webberi 26 • Carson Range rock cress, Boechera rigidissima var. demota 27 • Triangle-lobe moonwort, Botrychium ascendens 27 • Scalloped moonwort, Botrychium crenulatum 27 • Common moonwort, Botrychium lunaria 27 • Mingan moonwort, Botrychium minganense 27 • Mountain moonwort, Botrychium montanum 28 • Bolander’s candle moss, Bruchia bolanderi 29 • Clustered Lady’s Slipper Orchid, Cypripedium fasciculatum 29 • Mountain Lady’s Slipper Orchid, Cypripedium montanum 30 • Starved Daisy, Erigeron miser 31 • Donner Pass Buckwheat, Eriogonum umbellatum var. torreyanum 31 • Butte Fritillary, Fritillaria eastwoodiae 31 • Blandow’s bog-moss, Helodium blandowii 31 • Santa Lucia Dwarf Rush, Juncus luciensis 32 • Hutchison’s Lewisia, Lewisia kelloggii subsp. hutchisonii 32 • Kellogg’s Lewisia, Lewisia kelloggii subsp. kelloggii 32 • Sawtoothed Lewisia, Lewisia serrata 34 • Broad-nerved hump-moss, Meesia uliginosa 34 • Elongate copper moss, Mielichhoferia elongata 35 • Aquatic lichen, Peltigera gowardii 35 • Closed-throated Beard-tongue, Penstemon personatus 35 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) • Stebbins’ Phacelia, Phacelia stebbinsii 36 • Sierra blue grass, Poa sierrae 36 • Howell’s Tauschia, Tauschia howellii 37 Effects of the Alternatives to Rare Fungi 40 • Large Cudonia, Cudonia monticola 40 • Branched Collybia, Dendrocollybia racemosa 40 • Olive Phaeocollybia, Phaeocollybia olivacea 40 • Sowerbyella, Sowerbyella rhenana 40 Project File 47 Management Requirements 47 List of Tables Page Table 1 – Summary of Effects to Threatened and Sensitive Species 4 Table 2 – Tahoe National Forest Rare Plants and Fungi 7 Table 3 - Summary of the Big Hope Fire Salvage and Restoration Project Proposed 11 Actions Table 4 – Plant Communities within the American Wildfire Perimeter 11 Table 5 - Plants Observed in the 2012 Surveys 13 Table 6 – Plants Observed in Little Secret Meadow/Peatland/Fen 15 Table 7 – Vegetative Condition of Some of the Streams in the Project Area 16 Table 8 – Number of threatened & sensitive plant/fungi occurrences on the TNF 19 Table 9 – Information about TNF Poa sierrae Occurrences as of 7/17/13 36 Table 10 – Percentage of proposed units that burned with high/moderately-high severity 42 Table 11 – Rare Plant and Nonnative Invasive Plant Management Requirements 47 List of Figures Page Figure 1 – Edge of Secret Meadow/Fen - 10/17/13 16 Figure 2 – Water Hole at Stream near Beacroft Parking Area- 10/17/13 17 Figure 3 - Sceptridium multifidum in Secret Meadow - 10/17/13 28 Figure 4 - Lewisia kelloggii subsp. hutchisonii occurrence with dozer tracks 33 Figure 5 - Lewisia serrata plants within the American Wildfire Perimeter 34 List of Appendices Page Appendix A – Environmental analysis paragraphs 49 Appendix B – Additional Photos 51 3 Executive Summary BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION FOR BIG HOPE FIRE SALVAGE AND RESTORATION PROJECT Prepared by Kathy Van Zuuk February 27, 2014 The Proposed Action will: fell and remove trees on up to 3,443 acres of National Forest System lands within the American Wildfire perimeter utilizing ground based and/or aerial logging systems; fell and remove hazard trees on about 125 miles of roads and trails about 5,519 acres); and site prep, plant trees and do future release on about 7,295 acres. In addition about 125 miles of existing roads will be repaired/maintained and about 7 miles of temporary road constructed. The Project Area (defined as areas where ground disturbance is proposed) has elevations that range from about 2,500 to 7,000 feet. Rare plant and nonnative invasive plant surveys will be done in 2014 prior to Project operations. A small part of the Project Area was surveyed in 2012 as part of the Little Secret Project. No threatened, endangered, proposed (TEP), candidate (C), sensitive (S), or watchlist (W) plants were found in the 2012 surveys. The Project Area does not provide potential habitat for any TEPC species. Therefore, consultation with the USFWS is not required. Refer to the Project Biological Analysis (BA). Table 1 provides a summary of possible effects to sensitive species (also the federally threatened plant Packera layneae) from Project operations. Table 1 – Summary of Effects to Threatened and Sensitive Species SPECIES HABITAT/ EFFECTS DETERMINATION AND/OR SURVEY DETECTIONS RESULTS ARE PRESENT Astragalus lemmonii N/A No effect. The Project Area is not located in sagebrush scrub and wet areas. Astragalus pulsiferae N/A No effect. The Project Area is not located on the var. coronensis eastside of the forest/Great Basin scrub. Astragalus webberi Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Boechera rigidissima Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for var. demota present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Botrychium ascendens Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Botrychium crenulatum Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Botrychium lunaria Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Botrychium minganense Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Botrychium montanum Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Bruchia bolanderi Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Cudonia monticola Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Cypripedium Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for fasciculatum present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Cypripedium montanum Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Dendrocollybia Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for racemosa present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Erigeron miser Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Eriogonum umbellatum Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for var. torreyanum present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. 4 SPECIES HABITAT/ EFFECTS DETERMINATION AND/OR SURVEY DETECTIONS RESULTS ARE PRESENT Fritillaria eastwoodiae Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Helodium blandowii Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Ivesia aperta var. aperta N/A No effect. The Project Area is not located on the eastside of the Forest. Ivesia aperta var. canina N/A No effect. The Project Area is not located on the eastside of the Forest. Ivesia sericoleuca N/A No effect. The Project Area is not located on the eastside of the Forest. Ivesia webberi N/A No effect. The Project Area is not located on the eastside of the Forest. Juncus luciensis Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Lewisia cantelovii N/A No effect. The Project Area is not located within the Yuba River drainage system. Lewisia kelloggii subsp. Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for hutchisonii present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Lewisia kelloggii subsp. Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for kelloggii present. Federally listing as threatened or endangered. Lewisia longipetala N/A No effect. The Project Area is too low in elevation to provide potential habitat. Lewisia serrata Potential habitat is May effect but will not contribute to a trend for present. Federally listing as threatened