Final Environmental Impact Statement Rio de los Pinos Vegetation ...

Final Environmental Impact Statement Rio de los Pinos Vegetation Management Project
shrubs would likely occur across the landscape. Some areas may continue to provide suitable
habitat for those species requiring closed-canopy forested areas and may even improve in quality
as more coarse woody debris becomes available and the understory vegetation is released.
Logging activities could result in limited disturbance to avian species during project
implementation. There is a chance that nesting birds may be disturbed or suffer direct mortality
as the result of tree felling activities, but this potential is decreased by project design criteria for
protection of active bird nests and soft snags. Habitat effectiveness may be impacted but overall
the analysis area would continue to provide adequate habitat for many avian species.
Sensitive Mammals - The proposed salvage sale is planned in areas with existing road systems
in place. Approximately 3.3 miles of currently inactive roads would be re-opened for timber
operations. Up to 0.2 miles of new, temporary roads will be constructed for timber operations
which would not be expected to impact wolverines or martens substantially more than reopening
existing roads. If there are wolverines in the area (although none are known to occur on
the Rio Grande National Forest), they would be expected to move out of the area (possibly into
adjacent wilderness or backcountry areas) during logging operations to avoid human activity and
increased human presence. Open roads would not be expected to have a large impact on marten
habiat use although individuals could be disturbed or temporarily displaced by timber operations.
Under both action alternatives, sufficient woody debris will remain available on the forest floor
for wolverine and marten prey species and for marten denning habitat. The spatial distribution
and concentration of trees remaining would continue to provide suitable foraging habitat for
these species within the area of influence and project site. Canopy closure would decrease
substantially as trees are removed and remaining spruce trees die. This could degrade habitat for
martens as they prefer areas with overhead cover, however, if the cover became too sparse, they
would be expected to disperse to nearby areas having more overhead cover. According to
project design, 38 to 60 trees per acre, 8” dbh and larger will be left standing in the analysis area
following harvest, which will provide overhead cover. Areas that currently have substantial
understory/regeneration, preferred by martens, would be expected to release following
treatments, improving the overall structural quality of marten habitat in this area within
approximately 15-25 years.
Logging activities could result in limited disturbance to wolverines and martens if present
during project implementation. Removal of these trees is not expected to impact
movement of these species either within their home range or into other adjacent areas should
they be present.
Determination for All Sensitive Species for Alternative 1: This alternative allows natural
processes to occur which may result in temporary conversion of habitat or even for habitat to
become unsuitable for a period of time for some species. However, as natural processes create a
mosaic on the land providing a variety of habitat types, it is determined that this Alternative May
Impact Individuals of some species, but is not likely to cause a trend towards Federal
listing or result in loss of viability in the planning area (the Forest) for the eight species
evaluated.
Determination for All Sensitive Species for Alternatives 2 and 3: The action alternatives
would result in a given amount of habitat conversion depending upon harvest prescriptions. For
Chapter 3 – Affected Environment & Environmental Consequences Page 3-50