Spread Creek Pit Bridger Teton National Forest and Grand Teton National Park Biological Assessment August 2016 National Park Service – U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Forest Service – U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Highway Administration – U.S. Department of Transportation Grand Teton National Park P.O. Drawer 170 Moose, WY 83012-0170 Bridger Teton National Forest 340 N. Cache P.O. Box 1888 Jackson, WY 83001 Federal Highway Administration Western Federal Lands Highway Division 610 East Fifth Street Vancouver, WA 98661-3801 Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3 Consultation History ........................................................................................................... 3 Proposed Action .................................................................................................................. 4 Background ...................................................................................................................... 4 Operation of Spread Creek Pit ......................................................................................... 6 Conservation Measures .................................................................................................. 11 Schedule ......................................................................................................................... 12 Description of the Action Area .......................................................................................... 13 Species Accounts and Status of Species in the Action Area ................................................ 15 Canada Lynx .................................................................................................................. 16 Species Background................................................................................................................. 16 Critical Habitat ......................................................................................................................... 16 Habitat and Occurrence in the Action Area ........................................................................ 17 Gray Wolf ....................................................................................................................... 19 Species Background................................................................................................................. 19 Habitat and Occurrence in the Action Area ........................................................................ 19 Grizzly Bear .................................................................................................................... 22 Species Background................................................................................................................. 22 Habitat and Occurrence in the Action Area ........................................................................ 22 Wolverine ....................................................................................................................... 24 Species Background................................................................................................................. 24 Habitat and Occurrence in the Action Area ........................................................................ 24 Yellow-Billed Cuckoo .................................................................................................... 26 Species Background................................................................................................................. 26 Habitat and Occurrence in the Action Area ........................................................................ 26 Environmental Baseline ..................................................................................................... 28 Effects Analysis .................................................................................................................. 29 Canada Lynx .................................................................................................................. 29 Direct and Indirect Effects ..................................................................................................... 29 Effects on Critical Habitat ...................................................................................................... 29 Gray Wolf ....................................................................................................................... 29 Grizzly Bear .................................................................................................................... 30 Wolverine ....................................................................................................................... 31 Yellow-Billed Cuckoo .................................................................................................... 31 Cumulative Effects ......................................................................................................... 32 Effects Determination ........................................................................................................ 33 Grand Teton National Park/Bridger Teton National Forest i Canada Lynx and Critical Habitat .................................................................................. 33 Gray Wolf ....................................................................................................................... 33 Grizzly Bear .................................................................................................................... 33 Wolverine ....................................................................................................................... 34 Yellow-Billed Cuckoo .................................................................................................... 34 Whitebark Pine .............................................................................................................. 34 Effects Determination Summary .................................................................................... 35 Need for Reassessment Based on Changed Conditions ..................................................... 36 List of Contacts/Preparers ................................................................................................. 36 Literature Cited ................................................................................................................. 36 Tables Table 1. Spread Creek Pit extraction strategy ...................................................................................... 10 Table 2. Gravel and asphalt operating dates at the Spread Creek Pit, 2014. .................................... 13 Table 3. Threatened, endangered, and candidate/proposed species with the potential to occur in the action area. ..................................................................................................................................... 15 Table 4. Average daily traffic counts on US Highway 89/191 at Gros Ventre Junction. ................ 29 Table 5. Determination of effects of the proposed action. ................................................................ 35 Figures Figure 1. Project area ................................................................................................................................. 5 Figure 2. Spread Creek Pit operations in 2013. ...................................................................................... 6 Figure 3. Batch plant/hot plant operations, 2014. ................................................................................. 7 Figure 4. Spread Creek Pit, summer 2015. .............................................................................................. 8 Figure 5. Materials staging at the west end of the Spread Creek Pit, summer 2015.......................... 9 Figure 6. East end of the Spread Creek Pit, area reclaimed in 2004. ................................................... 9 Figure 7. Action area. ............................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 8. Lynx habitat and detections in the action area. ................................................................... 18 Figure 9. Wolf home ranges in the action area. .................................................................................... 21 Figure 10. Grizzly bear habitat and range in the action area. ............................................................. 23 Figure 11. Wolverine habitat in the action area. .................................................................................. 25 Figure 12. Yellow-billed cuckoo habitat in the pit area. ..................................................................... 27 Appendixes Appendix A Grizzly Bear Protection Measures Grand Teton National Park/Bridger Teton National Forest ii INTRODUCTION The purpose of this biological assessment (BA) is to review the proposed project to continue operation of the Spread Creek Pit (pit or site) and to determine to what extent the proposed action may affect federally listed threatened, endangered, candidate, or proposed species or their critical habitat. The pit is needed to provide cost-effective sand, rock, and gravel and also serve as a staging area for ongoing repair and maintenance of roads in Grand Teton National Park (GRTE or park) and Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF). The site is located on both sides of the boundary line for BTNF