NEPA--Environmental Assessment
NEPA--Environmental Assessment
NEPA--Environmental Assessment
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Concurrent to this grazing analysis, the BLM is updated the Alpine Triangle Recreation Area<br />
Management Plan, which sets management direction for the Silverton area. The updated plan will<br />
likely make minor adjustments to management emphasis in certain areas, and will update guidance<br />
to include current uses.<br />
Travel management in the Silverton landscape area will undergo the public planning process in the<br />
near future in order to meet the new Forest Service travel management rule. This rule requires that<br />
all motorized travel occur on designated trails and roads. The planning process will utilize the<br />
Forest Plan direction which will display areas suitable for motorized travel. Because the Silverton<br />
landscape already has limited off-road motor vehicle use, this would likely have only minor impacts<br />
on recreation use in the Silverton area.<br />
Under the on-going Land Management Plan revision process, proposal may be made that would<br />
change suitability determinations for the types of recreation or other activities in the landscape.<br />
Wildlife – Threatened and Endangered Species _______<br />
AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT<br />
A Biological <strong>Assessment</strong> (BA) was conducted to evaluate the potential effects from domestic<br />
livestock grazing in the Silverton Landscape to federally listed threatened or endangered fish and<br />
wildlife species, species proposed for federal listing, and designated critical habitat, as designated by<br />
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Schultz 2009a). The BA addresses those listed species and/or<br />
their critical habitat that are known to occur or have the potential to occur on the San Juan National<br />
Forest and/or BLM Field Office, or are known to occur downstream and have the potential to be<br />
affected by actions proposed to occur on San Juan Public Lands.<br />
Analyzing and disclosing the effects of the proposed action to federally listed species is needed to<br />
comply with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.1531 et seq.), as amended; BLM<br />
manual 6840 direction for special status species management; the National Forest Management Act<br />
of 1976 (including FS Manual 2670 direction for threatened, endangered, and sensitive species<br />
management); and the National <strong>Environmental</strong> Policy Act (<strong>NEPA</strong>) of 1969 (42 U.S.C.4321 et seq.),<br />
as amended.<br />
A BA is the means to review, analyze, and document the direct, indirect and cumulative effects to<br />
federally listed species, species proposed for federal listing, or designated critical habitat for listed<br />
species. The full BA for this project can be found in the project record (Schultz 2009a). The section<br />
below summarizes the findings of the BA.<br />
Federally listed species addressed in the BA are from the most recent list received from the USFWS<br />
(USDI 2009). There are no species proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act, nor is<br />
there any designated critical habitat for any listed species in the Silverton Landscape.<br />
There are eight species listed as threatened or endangered that have the potential to occur or be<br />
affected by projects on the Columbine Ranger District and BLM Field Office (Table C-1, Appendix<br />
C). Five of these species do not have habitat in the Silverton Landscape and are not affected by the<br />
proposed actions: Mexican spotted owl, razorback sucker, bonytail chub, Colorado pikeminnow, and<br />
Humpback chub. For this reason, these five species were dropped from further evaluation and the<br />
effects determination for these five species was “no effect.”<br />
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