United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Environmental Assessment DOI-BLM-CO-N05-2017-0009 Buffalo Horn Land Exchange May 2018 U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Northwest District White River Field Office 220 East Market St Meeker, CO 81641 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Identifying Information ........................................................................................................................ 1 Background ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Purpose and Need for Action ............................................................................................................. 2 Decision to be Made ........................................................................................................................... 2 Conformance with the Land Use Plan ................................................................................................ 2 Relationship to Statutes, Regulations, Other Plans ........................................................................... 5 2. Public Involvement ................................................................................................................................. 7 Scoping ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Public Comment ................................................................................................................................. 8 3. Alternatives .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Alternative A – Exchange Proposal as Described in the NOEP ........................................................ 9 Alternative B – Modified Exchange Proposal (Preferred) ................................................................ 11 Alternative C – No Action Alternative ............................................................................................... 12 Alternatives Considered but Eliminated from Detailed Analysis ...................................................... 12 4. Issues ..................................................................................................................................................... 13 5. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences .............................................................. 16 General Setting ................................................................................................................................ 16 Assumptions for Analysis ................................................................................................................. 16 Public Access ................................................................................................................................... 17 Lands and Realty ............................................................................................................................. 24 Terrestrial Wildlife (Big Game) ......................................................................................................... 28 Recreation ........................................................................................................................................ 30 Wilderness Study Areas ................................................................................................................... 36 Geology and Minerals ...................................................................................................................... 38 Livestock Grazing ............................................................................................................................. 41 Socioeconomics ............................................................................................................................. 48 Lands with Wilderness Characteristics ........................................................................................... 63 Vegetation....................................................................................................................................... 65 Special Status Animal Species ....................................................................................................... 67 Raptors and Migratory Birds ........................................................................................................... 70 Riparian Areas and Aquatic Wildlife ............................................................................................... 72 Cultural Resources ......................................................................................................................... 73 Paleontological Resources ............................................................................................................. 75 i Hazardous or Solid Wastes ............................................................................................................ 76 Soil Resources ............................................................................................................................. 78 Colorado Standards for Public Land Health ................................................................................... 80 Cumulative Impacts Analysis.......................................................................................................... 81 6. Supporting Information ........................................................................................................................ 90 Interdisciplinary Review .................................................................................................................... 90 Tribes, Individuals, Organizations, or Agencies Consulted .............................................................. 90 References ....................................................................................................................................... 91 Appendix A. Legal Descriptions of the Parcels ..................................................................................... 93 A.1. Federal Land ................................................................................................................................... 93 A.2. Non-Federal Land ........................................................................................................................... 97 Appendix B. Maps ..................................................................................................................................... 99 Appendix C. BLM’s Land Exchange Process....................................................................................... 117 C.1. Land Exchange Processing Phases ............................................................................................. 117 C.2. Public Interest Determination ........................................................................................................ 118 C.3. Valuation Process ......................................................................................................................... 119 C.4. Reservation Rights or Interests .................................................................................................... 121 C.5. Frequently Asked Questions ......................................................................................................... 122 Appendix D. Scoping Comments .......................................................................................................... 124 Appendix E. Master Surface Use Agreement for Parcels A-3 and A-5 .............................................. 127 ii 1. INTRODUCTION Identifying Information Project Title: Buffalo Horn Land Exchange Location: Rio Blanco and Moffat Counties, Colorado (See Appendix A for Legal Description) Applicant: Buffalo Horn Properties LLC NEPA Document Number: DOI-BLM-CO-N05-2017-0009-EA Casefile Number: COC-76595 Background Buffalo Horn Properties, LLC (Buffalo Horn) approached the White River Field Office (WRFO) in 2008 about a land exchange involving non-Federal lands (private parcels) in the Indian Valley and Smith Gulch areas and Federal lands (BLM parcels) in the Strawberry Creek area. At the time, the WRFO was not able to dedicate the time necessary for considering a land exchange. In 2011, the WRFO and Buffalo Horn began work on the proposed exchange. Buffalo Horn’s December 2011 proposal included approximately 6,645 acres of private land in 6 parcels and 7,629 acres of Federal land in 18 parcels. This exchange proposal was evaluated by a BLM interdisciplinary team and revised to the current proposal (Appendix B) in January 2013, which includes 4,035.77 acres of private property in 3 parcels for 3,806 acres of Federal land in 16 parcels. Most of the parcels are within the WRFO; however, a portion of Parcel C-1 lies within the Little Snake Field Office (LSFO). The parcels are located within both Rio Blanco and Moffat Counties. In May 2014, the WRFO and Buffalo Horn signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the preliminary review and feasibility study. As part of the feasibility study, the BLM met with staff members of Rio Blanco County, Moffat County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in January 2015