Stillwater Field Office, Nevada Office, Field Stillwater ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Pilot Table Mountain Permit Renewal DOI-BLM-NV-C010-2018-0029-EA U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Carson City District Stillwater Field Office 5665 Morgan Mill Road Carson City, NV 89701 775-885-6000 August 2019 1 Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Project Overview ................................................................................................................ 5 1.2 Identifying Project Information .......................................................................................... 5 1.3 Grazing Allotment Background .......................................................................................... 5 1.3.1 Livestock Grazing ................................................................................................... 6 1.3.2 Rangeland Health Assessment Results ................................................................... 6 1.4 Purpose and Need ............................................................................................................... 8 1.5 Decision to Be Made ........................................................................................................... 8 1.6 Land Use Plan Conformance Statement ............................................................................. 8 1.7 Relationships to Statutes, Regulations, Other Plans and Environmental Analysis Documents .......................................................................................................................... 8 2.0 ALTERNATIVES ................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Management Common to Proposed Action and Year-Round Grazing ............................ 10 2.1.1 AUM and Water Base Property Overview ........................................................... 10 2.1.2 Proposed Improvements........................................................................................ 13 2.1.3 Existing Range Improvements .............................................................................. 13 2.1.4 Monitoring Goals and Objectives ......................................................................... 17 2.1.5 Other Terms and Conditions for Proposed Action and Alternative 2 ................... 19 2.2 Proposed Action: Cool-Season Only ................................................................................ 20 2.2.1 Grazing Plan.......................................................................................................... 20 2.2.2 Grazing Schedule .................................................................................................. 21 2.3 Alternative 2: Year-Round Grazing .................................................................................. 22 2.3.1 Grazing Plan.......................................................................................................... 22 2.3.2 Grazing Schedule .................................................................................................. 23 2.4 Alternative 3: Permittee Alternative: Graduated AUMs .................................................. 23 2.4.1 Proposed Permittee Range Improvements to be Maintained ................................ 25 2.5 Alternative 4: No Action Alternative ................................................................................ 26 2.6 Alternative 5: No Grazing Alternative .............................................................................. 28 2.7 Alternatives Considered but Eliminated from Analysis ................................................... 28 3.0 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES, & CUMULATIVE IMPACTS ................................................................................................. 28 3.1 Scoping and Issue Identification ....................................................................................... 29 3.2 General Setting.................................................................................................................. 30 3.3 Supplemental Authorities .................................................................................................. 30 3.4 Resources or Uses other than Supplemental Authorities .................................................. 32 3.5 Resources Present and Brought Forward for Analysis ..................................................... 33 3.5.1 Threatened or Endangered Species ....................................................................... 33 3.5.2 Water Quality, Surface/Ground ............................................................................ 38 3.5.3 Wetlands/Riparian Areas ...................................................................................... 45 3.5.4 BLM Sensitive Species (animals and plants) ........................................................ 52 3.5.5 General Wildlife and Migratory Birds .................................................................. 59 3.5.6 Livestock Grazing ................................................................................................. 65 3.5.7 Soil ........................................................................................................................ 69 3.5.8 Vegetation ............................................................................................................. 75 3.5.9 Wild Horse and Burro ........................................................................................... 78 2 3.5.10 Noxious and Invasive, Non-native Species .......................................................... 80 3.5.11 Socioeconomics .................................................................................................... 83 3.5.12 Wilderness Study Area ......................................................................................... 84 3.5.13 Cumulative Impacts .............................................................................................. 88 4.0 PERSONS, GROUPS OR AGENCIES CONSULTED ..................................................... 98 4.1 List of Preparers ................................................................................................................ 98 5.0 LIST OF REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 99 6.0 APPENDICES ..................................................................................................................... 103 Tables Table 1: Current Permitted Livestock Grazing ............................................................................... 6 Table 2: Summary of Results for the Rangeland Health Assessment and Determination .............. 7 Table 3: Summary of Alternative Actions ...................................................................................... 9 Table 4: Proposed Pasture Fences................................................................................................. 14 Table 5: Proposed Action Mandatory Terms and Conditions ...................................................... 20 Table 6: Proposed Action Grazing Rotation Schedule after Fencing Construction ..................... 21 Table 7: Mandatory Terms and Conditions for Year-round Grazing ........................................... 22 Table 8: Year-Round Rotational Grazing Schedule after Fencing Construction ......................... 23 Table 9: Permittee Alternative Mandatory Terms and Conditions ............................................... 24 Table 10: Permittee Alternative Range Improvements Identified for Maintenance ..................... 25 Table 11: No Action Alternative Mandatory Terms and Conditions ........................................... 27 Table 12: Supplemental Authorities ............................................................................................. 30 Table 13: Resources or Uses Other Than Supplemental Authorities ........................................... 32 Table 14: Persons, Groups, or Agencies Consulted ...................................................................... 98 Table 15: Stillwater Field Office Resource Specialists ................................................................ 98 Appendices Appendix A: List of Acronyms Appendix B: PTMA Rangeland Health Assessment and Evaluation Appendix C: PTMA Standard Determination Document Appendix D: Decisions and Objectives from the CCFO CRMP (2001) Applicable to the EA Appendix E: Federal Laws and Regulations, Plans, Programs, and Policies of Affiliated Tribes, other Federal Agencies, State, and Local Governments Applicable to the EA Appendix F: Monitoring Plan to Assess Whether Objectives are Being Met Appendix G: Standard Terms and Conditions Applicable to all BLM Livestock Grazing Permits Appendix H: Priority Range Improvements Appendix I: Project Design Features and Processes Appendix J: Base Water Suitability Status Appendix K: Cattlemen’s Texas Longhorn Registry and the Livestock Conservancy Letter Appendix L: Additional Maps not included in the RHA Map 1: Proposed Pasture Fencing Creating Pastures within the Allotment 3 Map 2: Proposed Pastures within the Allotment Map 3: Service Areas for Suitable Base Waters and Potential Transferable Waters Map 4: Priority Spring Improvements Map 5: Critical Water Resources for Livestock Distribution Map 6: Proposed Blue Link Spring Improvement Area Map 7: