Wildcat Hollow Project Environmental Assessment Jessieville-Winona-Fourche Ranger District Ouachita National Forest _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Appendix “A”: Biological Evaluation BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION (with PETS Checklist) of Ecosystem Management Activities Wildcat Hollow Project Area Barnhart, Bear Creek West and Brogan Watersheds (Compartments 477, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488) Fourche Unit of the Jessieville-Winona-Fourche Ranger District Ouachita National Forest Yell County, Arkansas by Mary Lynn Mentz, MS and Sarah Thompson, MS Wildlife Biologists Jessieville-Winona-Fourche Ranger District P.O. Box 459 Danville, AR 72833 479-495-2844(voice) 479-495-7231 (fax) [email protected] [email protected] April 2012 2012 1 Wildcat Hollow Project Environmental Assessment Jessieville-Winona-Fourche Ranger District Ouachita National Forest _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Project Area Description and Location The Wildcat Hollow Project Area is located in the western portion of the Fourche Unit of the Jessieville- Winona-Fourche Ranger District. The eastern portion of the Project Area is bisected by State Highway 27. The Project Area’s north boundary consists of the Fourche LaFave River and forest administrative boundary located west of Lake Nimrod. The southern boundary is primarily composed of Forest Road 72. The Project Area contains a total of 17,897 acres with 16,555 acres administered by the U.S. Forest Service under the Revised Land and Resource Management Plan for the Ouachita National Forest (USDA-Forest Service 2005a). The Project Area includes 1,342 acres of privately owned industrial timberland. Land within the Project Area has been assigned to six Management Areas (MA) that include: MA-3 (Developed Recreation Areas – Fourche Mountain), MA-6 (Rare Upland Communities), MA-9 (Water and Riparian Area), MA-14 (Ouachita Mountains, Habitat Diversity Emphasis), MA-17 (Semi-Primitive), and MA-21 (Old Growth Restoration – Barnhart Old Growth Unit). Detailed descriptions of these Management Areas are found in the Environmental Assessment for this Project and also in the Revised Land and Resource Management Plan (USDA-Forest Service 2005a). The area is typical of the Ouachita Mountain region with a ridge and valley landscape where ridges are primarily oriented on an east-west axis resulting in distinct north and south slopes. Mesic (more moist) north slopes, riparian areas, and smaller drainages are vegetated by hardwood and hardwood-pine forest types and often contain extensive areas of ferns as a dominant ground cover plant. Xeric (drier) south slopes are vegetated by pine and pine-hardwood forest types. Riparian areas are typically narrow with upland pine and hardwood forest types often occurring directly adjacent to stream channels particularly in upland intermittent and ephemeral drainages. Forest Service land is variable in steepness and ranges in elevation from just over 1500 feet AMSL at Allen Peak to approximately 350 feet along the Fourche LaFave River. The entire Project Area is part of a larger, fire sub-climax ecosystem (Kulhavy and Conner 1986, Nowacki and Abrams 2008). USGS Quad Maps for the area are Bluffton (B-12), Chula (C-12), Onyx (C-13), Plainview (B-16), and Rover (B-13). Three primary streams occur within the Project Area all draining north into the Fourche LaFave River above Lake Nimrod. These streams, in descending order of area drained, are Wildcat, Barnhart and Brogan Creeks. Each of these streams traverse privately held land for distances ranging from 0.5 to almost 1.0 mile north of the project boundary and before entering the Fourche LaFave River. All streams within the Project Area are flashy and move outside their banks following significant rain events. Debris trapped in adjacent vegetation at a height of five feet and greater is commonly encountered and roads in lower portions of the watershed may, on occasion, be impassable for brief periods of time. All stream channels within the Project Area are essentially intermittent, becoming dry during summer months with some pools remaining in channels primarily, but not exclusively, below Roads 795 and 796 near the north boundary. There appears to be limited spring activity feeding larger pools in Wildcat Creek above Road 796 as evidenced by considerable side channel flow during fish surveys in July 2010. Lower portions of these main channels offer suitable habitat for multiple mussel species. There are a number of smaller headwater stream segments that in most cases are intermittent and exhibit continuous flow during wet periods of the year. During periods of continuous flow these smaller stream reaches may offer additional habitat and spawning areas for fish as evidenced by fishes trapped in pools far up drainages during summer. Natural fish barriers in the form of cascades with drops are numerous and present in all three stream systems due to large rock substrate material and tilted bedrock. Fish apparently navigate around these barriers during high water periods. Protective Streamside Management Areas 30 feet and 100 feet wide will be established on each side of all intermittent and perennial streams, respectively, to further protect aquatic resources where management activities are planned. In some broad, flat areas along main channels where streams frequently escape their banks protective barriers will need to be extended. 2012 2 Wildcat Hollow Project Environmental Assessment Jessieville-Winona-Fourche Ranger District Ouachita National Forest _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Special Habitat Designations There are no designations of “critical habitat” (Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) or “essential habitat” (Regional Forester, U.S. Forest Service) within, adjacent to, or affected by this Project Area. Critical habitats are those areas designated as critical by the Secretary of the Interior or Commerce, for the survival and recovery of (federally) listed species. Essential habitats are those areas designated by a Regional Forester as possessing the same characteristics as critical habitat without having been declared critical habitat by the Secretary of Interior or Commerce. Essential habitats are those necessary to meet recovery objectives for endangered, threatened and proposed species and those necessary to maintain viable populations of sensitive species. Regional Forester’s Sensitive Species List and Federally Listed Species (PETS Checklist) The Regional Forester’s Sensitive Species List for the Ouachita National Forest (USDA- Forest Service 2007a) is composed of 66 species of plants and animals known to occur or that may occur on Forest Service lands and for which there is a viability concern. In addition there are 14 plants and animals federally listed by the United State Fish and Wildlife Service as Proposed, Endangered or Threatened ( PET ). Of these 80 species 10 are Federally designated as Endangered, 4 are Federally designated as Threatened, and 66 are Forest Service designated as Sensitive (PETS ). The Forest Service is to ensure that approved projects do not result in a loss of viability or create trends toward Federal listing of any Sensitive species and to ensure that approved projects enhance rather than degrade any habitat occupied by threatened and/or endangered species. Detailed information regarding Forest Service Sensitive Species can be found in the Forest Service Manual, Chapter 2670 – Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive Plants and Animals. Purpose, Need and Objectives of the Biological Evaluation The purpose of this Biological Evaluation (BE) is to provide a documented review of how the Proposed Action may affect any PETS species and is performed as part of the site specific environmental analysis. This discussion of effects upon PETS species and/or their habitats is needed to provide useful information to decision makers in the careful selection of activities to accomplish goals and achieve desired future conditions with overall objectives of maintaining wildlife, fish and plant populations and diversity of habitats. This evaluation considers the best available information/science on populations of PETS species and their habitats for the Project Area and the area of its influence with sources that include data gathered during on-the-ground field inventories and surveys, review of the scientific literature, review of “gray literature” (reports, studies and surveys which have been conducted within or adjacent to the area but which have not been published in a refereed journal), conversations with knowledgeable individuals in the academic, scientific, and resource management communities, and my best professional judgment in an effort to determine which PETS species occur or may occur. Protective Measures Protective measures have been set forth in a