United States Department of the Interior FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Ecological Services Colorado Field Office 755 Parfet Street, Suite 361 Lakewood, Colorado 80215 IN REPLY REFER TO: ES/GJ-6-CO-03-F-018 MS 65412 GJ October 14, 2003 Richard C. Stem, Deputy Regional Forester U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region P.O. Box 25127 Lakewood, Colorado 80225-0127 Dear Mr. Stem: This document transmits the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) biological opinion based on our review of the biological assessments (BA), for the 26 projects submitted for batched consultation and effects to the threatened Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), in accordance with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Your request for consultation was received on July 15, 2003. As you may already know, the District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order on December 26, 2002, that enjoins the Service from issuing any written concurrence[s] that actions proposed by any Federal agencies “may affect, but are not likely to adversely affect” the threatened Canada lynx. Until further notice, all consultations concerning effects to the Canada lynx must be conducted in accordance with the direction of the Court. Specifically, any actions subject to consultation that may affect the Canada lynx require formal consultation as described in 50 CFR ' 402.14 and preparation of a biological opinion that addresses how the proposed action is expected to affect the Canada lynx in order to complete the procedural requirements of section 7. In light of the court decision discussed above you requested formal consultation on 26 projects considered to be of “high priority” within Region 2 of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The National Forests involved in this consultation include; the White River National Forest (WRNF), the Grand Mesa National Forest (GMNF), the Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest (ARNF), the Rio Grande National Forest (RGNF), and the San Juan National Forest (SJNF). The biological opinion that follows, will address each project individually, consistent with the Court’s ruling. All projects were determined, by the USFS, to “may affect, not likely to adversely affect” the Canada lynx. Effects assessments were made by comparing project effects to the standards and guidelines of the Canada Lynx Conservation Assessment and Strategy (LCAS) (Ruediger et al. 2000), and the Colorado Canada lynx project screens, developed to streamline lynx consultations within the State of Colorado. Criteria used within the project screens are biologically more conservative than LCAS standards and guidelines, and consultation resulted in concurrence for those actions that may affect, but are not likely to adversely affect at the project level. This biological opinion is based primarily on our review of the biological assessments and supplemental information received in regards to the effects of the proposed actions on Canada lynx. Other federally listed species were also included and handled under the context of normal section 7 consultation. Concurrences for these species were provided within individual project discussions under the “Description of the Proposed Action” section. Species that may be adversely affected by any one of the proposed actions are considered with that action and are included within this biological opinion. Consultation History Your letter requesting consultation regarding the batched projects was received in our office on July 23, 2003. A complete administrative record of this consultation is on file in the Western Colorado Ecological Services Field Office. The Service issued a biological opinion in October 2000, which evaluated the effects of implementing the current Forest Plans and Land Use Plans of the USFS and the Bureau of Land Management. The October 2000 biological opinion concluded that the implementation of current Forest Plans, in conjunction with the Conservation Agreement between the USFS and the Service (February 7, 2000), which includes the consideration of the LCAS, may result in some level of adverse effects to lynx. On May 30, 2001, the Service issued a concurrence letter subsequent to a request by the USFS to re-authorize the Programmatic Agreement for Canada lynx in Colorado. Included in the Agreement are criteria, in the form of screens, designed to evaluate the impacts of USFS actions to Canada lynx. Upon meeting the criteria set forth in the Agreement, individual actions were granted concurrence from the Service. Actions meeting the criteria were simple, straightforward actions, which will have documentation supporting insignificant and/or discountable effects to lynx. Subsequent to the Court’s December 26, 2002, decision, use of the screening process has been discontinued to comply with the Court’s order. Currently, these screens are being used as a tool to demonstrate that actions meeting the screening criteria result in insignificant and/or discountable effects to Canada lynx. A few of the individual projects included in this batched consultation do have consultation history. Consultation histories for individual actions are provided below. Crooked and Lincoln Creek Large Wood Habitat Placement Project 2 This project has received informal consultation in the form of a phone conversation between, Mark Lacy (WRNF) and Kurt Broderdorp (USFWS) with regard to potential effects to Canada lynx habitat. Keystone Ski Resort’s Little Bowl and Erickson Bowl Snowcoach Tours Formal section 7 consultation was completed in 1985 (6-5-85-F-021) and 1987 (6-5-86-F-027) for water use associated with the existing snowmaking system for Keystone Ski Area (KSA). Both consultations resulted in “adversely affect” determinations for the Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, razorback sucker and bonytail. No additional depletions are associated with the purposed action and therefore water use is not addressed any further. The Service concurred with a “not likely to adversely affect” determination for Keystone Resort’s (KR) existing winter and summer operations on May 31, 2000. There have been no substantial changes to resort operations since that determination. The Colorado Programmatic Agreement for Canada lynx screening process (Screen 3) indicates that the KR snowcoach tours project would screen to a “NLAA” determination because (1) the activity wholly occurs within the development area boundary that is being currently used for similar activities, (2) Section 7 consultation has not been done on the new (proposed) operating plan that includes the Proposed Action, and (3) the proposed action is consistent with historic operations. The proposed action appears to meet all criteria and stipulations for the blanket concurrence criteria. Maintaining the functional value of the landscape linkage in Jones Gulch is of paramount importance and could be affected by the proposed action due to possible increase in noncompliance backcountry skiing in this area. Informal consultation associated with the withdrawn Ski Tip proposal, the Service (Broderdorp, USFWS, pers. comm., 2002) agreed that the current level of backcountry use in Jones Gulch is probably not adversely affecting lynx diurnal security use. Crooked Creek Complex Timber Sale No previous consultation history exists for this project. Lodgepole Pine Rollerchopped Thinning Project No previous consultation history exists for this project. Million Fire Salvage Timber Sale The Million Fire burned approximately 9,891 acres on the Divide Ranger District during the summer of 2002. Burn severity included 191 acres of low burn intensity, 4,008 acres of moderate burn intensity and 5,147 acres of high intensity burn. The Service was consulted regarding fire suppression efforts and also for the activities associated with the Burned Area 3 Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) efforts. The Service concurred with the determinations of “may affect, not likely to adversely affect” the Canada lynx and “no effect” to bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida), Uncompahgre fritillary butterfly (Boloria acrocnema) and southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) on July 3, 2002. Work within the fire perimeter is now focusing on the burned area recovery and salvage efforts. To date, no previous consultation has been done for the Million Fire Salvage Timber Sale. Avalanche Snowmobile Tours On January 8, 2002, the Sulphur Ranger District prepared a map of snow compaction routes, including areas used by Avalanche Tours and by the public. These maps were submitted to the Regional Office for inclusion in the formal consultation packet for the Region-wide Forest Plan Amendment process for lynx. White River Plateau Sheep Allotment Prior to the listing of lynx, the WRNF conducted a NEPA analysis for the issuance of domestic livestock range allotment permits. The BA developed from this analysis resulted in a programmatic process to cover the majority of the impacts expected to occur from the proposed action. To address the lynx issues for the existing grazing activity, consultation using the “lynx screening” process (USFWS 2000a) was conducted. The Service concurred with a determination of “may affect, not likely to adversely affect” to lynx for the current grazing activity (USFWS 2000b). There has been no direct consultation concerning the modifications to the proposed White River Plateau Sheep Allotment project. Beaver Creek Trail On June 6, 2003, the WRNF initiated informal consultation concerning the construction of the Beaver Creek Trail with