United States USDA Department of Agriculture Forest Service Intermountain Region DRAFT RECORD OF DECISION Long Term Special Use Authorization for the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to Use National Forest System Land for their Winter Elk Management Activities at Alkali Creek Feedground January 23, 2015 Responsible Official Kathryn J. Conant Acting Forest Supervisor ; USDA Forest Service ;-‘ Bridger-Teton National Forest Jackson Ranger District nq air Teton County, Wyoming r1 1/; A:’ :ri Section 23, T42N, RII3W, 6th PM. ITO rvi1:ç £L!: - ,!jt’_i1 ,.! — __/ --- -, 7I-’ — _ Kathryn J. Conant Date Acting Forest Supervisor Record ofDecision Winter Elk Management Activities Supplement to the EJS Background On July 15, 2008, the Forest Supervisor of the Bridger-Teton National Forest issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (hereafter 2008 EIS) and signed a Record of Decision (ROD) concerning a Long Term Special Use Authorization for the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission (hereinafter “the Commission”) to use National Forest System land for their winter elk management activities. The 2008 EIS included analysis related to six existing feedgrounds and two new areas adjacent to a feedground on land owned by the Commission. In the 2008 ROD, the Forest Supervisor decided to authorize use of five of the existing feedgrounds but postponed the decision concerning authorization for Alkali Creek Feedground to allow for additional analysis. The Forest Supervisor directed the Jackson District Ranger to survey the Gros Ventre Wilderness boundary adjacent to this feedground and to cooperate with the Commission to perform a more detailed survey of vegetative effects inside the wilderness. This draft Record of Decision displays the draft decision for the Alkali Creek Feedground. A Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (hereafter 2015 Final SETS), documenting the additional analysis performed for the Alkali Creek Feedground is being issued together with this draft ROD. The FSEIS can be found at http://www,fs.usda.gov/goto/btni7projects. Supplemental feeding of elk (Cervus elaphus) has been conducted in northwestern Wyoming since the early 1900s. The initiation of providing supplemental feed to elk was in response to large-scale winter die-offs, which were due in part to the loss of migration routes to suitable winter range and the direct loss of winter range due to rural development and fencing (Taylor 2001). Emergency feeding was documented as early as 1907 when a Pinedale game warden provided feed for 200 snowbound elk on Willow Creek; the Supervisor of the Teton National Forest secured funds to purchase the hay (Sheldon 1927; Brown 1947). A 1939 Wyoming statute designates the Commission’ liable for damages caused by big game animals. Many feedgrounds were established in the 1 940s and 1 950s to prevent elk from entering private lands and damaging stored crops. They have become an effective tool in reducing damage to haystack yards and winter pastures on private lands, and in reducing potential for transmission of brucellosis to livestock (Wyoming Game and Fish (WGFD) 2004). Elk feeding sites have been strategically placed on and near National Forest System lands with the intent of preventing elk migration through private lands that are located in historic big game winter ranges. Alkali Creek Feedground is situated such that it is critical for holding elk in the Gros Ventre River drainage that otherwise would end up overwintering on adjoining private agricultural lands or the National Elk Refuge. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s 2007 Bison and Elk Management Plan for Grand Teton National Park and the National Elk Refuge sets an objective for having about 5,000 elk on feed on the National Elk Refuge, which at current herd populations cannot be met if substantial numbers of elk leave the Gros Ventre drainage. The Commission’s supplemental elk feeding activities occur during the winter months at 21 feedgrounds and one staging area. Attachment 1 displays a map of the 21 Commission managed feedgrounds, the staging area (North Piney) and the National Elk Refuge. Eight of the 21 feedgrounds are on National Forest System lands: Alkali Creek, Dell Creek, Dog Creek, Fall A note on terminology: The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission is the policy making board of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) and is responsible for the direction and supervison of the Director of WGFD. The Commission, through efforts of WGFD provides a system of control, propagation, management, protection, and regulation of all wildlfe in Wyoming. Thus, the Commission is the entity that is currently authorized to use and occupy National Forest System land for feedground use on the Bridger-Teton National Forest, while WGFD is the State agency that implements the Commission’s management direction, including the acts of feeding, vaccinating and testing elk at feedgrounds. 1 Record ofDecision Winter Elk Management Activities Supplement to the EIS Creek, Fish Creek, Forest Park, Muddy Creek, and Upper Green River. Forest Service regulations require authorization for use and occupancy of National Forest System lands. The feedground that is the subject of this decision is located near Alkali Creek on the Jackson Ranger District, see Attachment 2. Alkali Creek Feedground is located within the Gros Ventre drainage northeast of the Town of Jackson within the Jackson Elk Herd Unit along with two other feedgrounds at Patrol Cabin and Fish Creek. The first special use permit for feeding in this area was issued to the Commission in 1947 for use of one acre of land east of the current Alkali Creek Feedground to construct and maintain a hay shed. Daily feeding at Alkali Creek, Patrol Cabin, and Fish Creek Feedgrounds started in the mid 1960’s (WGFD 2007). Alkali Creek Feedground was moved to its current location in 1976. Facilities and feeding areas at Alkali Creek and Fish Creek feedgrounds are located on National Forest System lands. Patrol Cabin Feedground is operated on land owned by the Wyoming Fish and Game Commission. Historically these feedgrounds were operated relatively independently of each other with little interchange of elk among the three feedgrounds. Feeding at Alkali Creek, Fish Creek, and Patrol Cabin prior to 1998 saw an average of 497, 764, and 490 elk at each feedground respectively. The average length of feeding was 98 days at Alkali and Fish Creek and 89 days at Patrol Cabin. Since that time, wolf activity has influenced elk distribution in the Gros Ventre, resulting in elk aggregating into one large group of up to 2,845 animals. These elk now have a propensity to congregate on one feedground, and move to another feedground in the drainage in response to wolf pressure. It should be noted though, that some groups of elk persist on native winter range in the Gros Ventre independent of the feeding operations. Decision and Reasons for the Decision Decision I am selecting Alternative 2 as described on pages 14 to 16 of the 2015 Final SETS with the addition of required design feature 8. I am deciding to authorize the use of 91 acres of National Forest System land for the Commission elk management activities at Alkali Creek Feedground. Specifically, the WGFD, at the behest of the Commission, will maintain and operate one elk tagging corral, one horse corral, one tack shed, one haystack yard containing two hay sheds, spring and trough developments including protective fencing and piping, and a feeding ground associated with their ongoing winter elk management program. My decision means that the existing special use authorization issued to the Commission for use Of National Forest System land for elk management activities at Dog Creek, Fall Creek, Fish Creek, Muddy Creek and Upper Green River Feedgrounds will be amended to add authorization for use at Alkali Creek Feedground. Attachment 2 displays the location and boundary of Alkali Creek Feedground. Required design features and monitoring that are part of my decision include: 1) Any hay or straw used in association with this permit will be certified and tagged as noxious weed or noxious weed seed free (Orders #04-00-056, and #02-96-02). The WGFD will use certified weed free hay to minimize the potential introduction of noxious weeds. The operation will comply with county ordinance where applicable. 2 Record ofDecision Winter Elk Management Activities Supplement to the EIS 2) The WGFD will be responsible for monitoring and treating of noxious and invasive weeds within the permit area. Monitoring will occur annually. 3) In areas adjacent to the permitted area, WGFD will treat cheat grass invasions with integrated pest management techniques and reseed areas with native grass adjacent to the feedground where cheat grass is prevalent. Monitoring will occur annually. 4) Forest Service monitoring of soil disturbance class and percent detrimental soil disturbance will occur about every five years. 5) Feeding is not authorized to take place on the mapped wetland areas or within 100 feet of the outer edge of the wetlands and the channel that connects them. The WGFD will monitor the condition of the aquatic resources and vegetative conditions within the 100- foot buffer area approximately every five years, using monitoring protocols approved by the U.S. Forest Service. If the desired conditions are not achieved, additional measures will be considered and conducted consistent with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. 6) Feeding operations will be conducted over 18 inches of snow or frozen ground as