APPENDIX B BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES SURVEY 2014 (including Water Conservation Management Report 2010) Biological Resources Survey Proposed Joint Permanent Air Facility United States Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine Libby Army Airfield Fort Huachuca, Sierra Vista, Cochise County, Arizona United States Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Facilities Program Management Office 90K Street NE, Suite 900 Washington, DC 20229 July 2014 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. PROJECT OBJECTIVE .......................................................................................... 1 2. LOCATION ............................................................................................................... 1 3. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 1 3.1 LITERATURE AND DATA REVIEW .............................................................................. 1 3.2 FIELD SURVEYS ......................................................................................................... 2 4. HABITAT TYPES AND SITE DESCRIPTION .................................................... 2 5. SOILS ......................................................................................................................... 2 6. RESULTS .................................................................................................................. 3 7. WATER RESOURCES ............................................................................................ 3 8. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................ 4 9. SUMMARY ............................................................................................................... 5 10. REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 6 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1 Site and Vicinity Map, United States Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine, Libby Army Airfield, Fort Huachuca, Arizona FIGURE 2 USGS Topographic Map, United States Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine, Libby Army Airfield, Fort Huachuca, Arizona FIGURE 3 Libby Army Airfield Aerial Location, United States Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine, Libby Army Airfield, Fort Huachuca, Arizona FIGURE 4 Proposed Action Site, Preferred Alternative, United States Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine, Libby Army Airfield, Fort Huachuca, Arizona LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A. Cochise County, Arizona, Threatened and Endangered Species List, as of October 30, 2013 APPENDIX B. A Survey for Rare Plants at the Proposed Drone Hanger Site on Fort Huachuca, Arizona APPENDIX C. Water Conservation Management Report for the US Customs and Border Protection Activities Within the Sierra Vista Subwatershed of the San Pedro Watershed, February 2010. 1. PROJECT OBJECTIVE LG2 Environmental Solutions, Inc. (LG2ES) conducted a Biological Resources Survey on land proposed for the construction of a Joint Permanent Air Facility at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Air and Marine (OAM) at Libby Army Airfield (LAAF), Fort Huachuca, Sierra Vista, Cochise County, Arizona. The survey was conducted to determine a general occurrence of plant and wildlife species and communities with an emphasis on federally listed threatened and endangered species under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, as well as State of Arizona listed species, and species of concern within the project boundaries. 2. LOCATION The proposed construction site is an undeveloped, but disturbed, parcel of land located on the south side and immediately adjacent to an apron off the existing LAAF, approximately 0.65 mile east of the western terminus (Figure 1). CBP currently operates from temporary hangars and office structures approximately 1.52 miles east of the proposed site on land leased from LAAF. The hangar facility is to be situated on approximately 7.00 acres of undeveloped, but disturbed, land partially located within the confines of a security fence. The area is characterized as disturbed grass-covered field and cleared land. 3. METHODOLOGY Methodologies utilized to conduct the wildlife surveys included literature and data reviews and field surveys consisting of pedestrian transects. These methodologies are described below. 3.1 Literature and Data Review This survey was conducted to evaluate potential effects of the Proposed Action on federally listed threatened and endangered species under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). LG2ES reviewed existing natural resource data relevant to the proposed project, with an emphasis on possible threatened and endangered species and other wildlife species occurrence on project lands. The data review included U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps; US Department of Agriculture and Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) soils maps; USFWS lists; the Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan (INRMP) for Fort Huachuca; Draft, Draft Biological Assessment Proposed Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Facility at Libby Army Airfield Fort Huachuca, Arizona (2010); Arizona Heritage Data Base information on protected species; aerial photographs; and other reports regarding natural resources within or in close proximity to the project. This information was used to support the field surveys. 1 A comprehensive list of threatened and endangered species for Cochise County, AZ, as of October 30, 2013, is found in Appendix A. Species of specific interest for this report included the Southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus), yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae), desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius), Gila topminnow (Poeciliopsis occidentalis), Chiricahua leopard frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis), and the Huachuca water umbel (Lilaeopsis schaffneriana) pursuant to current U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) threatened and endangered species lists. The proposed action site is not located in any critical habitat areas designated for federal or state listed species. 3.2 Field Surveys A field survey was conducted on 2 August 2013 to characterize natural communities on the property and determine the presence or absence of State of Arizona or federally-listed species. Surveys took the form of meandering pedestrian transects of the proposed construction site and immediate surrounding land within and outside of the confines of the existing security fence. During the pedestrian surveys all wildlife species or evidence thereof, observed or heard, and all dominant plant species were noted. 4. HABITAT TYPES AND SITE DESCRIPTION The site visit for the Biological Resources Survey was conducted on the morning of 2 August 2013. The weather was sunny and warm with temperatures in the mid to upper 80’s °F. The site was being used as a staging area for heavy equipment, such as bulldozers, excavators, and dump trucks, for an adjacent construction site. During the course of the Biological Resources Survey, two dominant community types were identified on, or in the immediate vicinity of, the site. Approximately one third of the site can be characterized as mechanically maintained scrubby grasslands. This community is characterized as an area of mechanically-maintained grasses and forbs dominated by Lehman’s love grass (Eragrstis lehmanniana) with a few scattered immature mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa). The remaining two thirds of the site is predominantly cleared land with scattered pockets of vegetation also dominated by Lehman’s love grass. For a full list of vegetative species inventoried, please see the attached A Survey for Rare Plants at the Proposed Drone Hanger Site on Fort Huachuca, Arizona (Appendix B). 5. SOILS The soils are mapped as being underlain by the Terrarossa Soil Complex, are highly developed and derived from alluvial fan deposits of gravel, sand, and silt deposited during the Quaternary and Tertiary Periods. The fan deposits originated in the Huachuca 2 Mountains to the south, and are typically deeper than 60 inches to bedrock or hardpan (Cleland et. al., 2008). 6. RESULTS During the site visit, very few animals were observed and very little evidence of wildlife use was noted. During the site visit, wildlife species observed were the mourning dove (Zenia macroura), northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), desert grassland whiptail (Aspidoscelis uniparens) and red-spotted toad (Bufo punctatus). Other species that may occur in the vicinity of the Region of Interest (ROI) include, but are not limited to, black-tailed jack rabbit (Lepus californicus), meadowlarks (Sturnella spp.), curve- billed thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre), pocket gophers (Thomomys spp.), and various locally common snakes and lizards; however, no occurrences or evidence of these species was observed during the site visit. During the site visit, no migratory bird nests, roosting areas, or other such use were observed on the site. No mammal dens were observed on the site. No occurrence or evidence of any listed endangered, threatened, or protected species was observed on the site. The site is regularly maintained and no listed plant species were observed. Care was taken to field identify, or collect for laboratory identification, all observed plant species. For a full list of vegetative species inventoried, please see the attached A Survey for Rare Plants at