Final Environmental Impact Statement

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Vestal Final Environmental Impact Statement Chapter 3 vertigo is generally restricted to rich lowland wooded sites, quite often in the white spruce community, but occasionally in the ponderosa pine community. The forest canopy is generally closed or nearly so, with well-developed litter and a rich understory. Sites are usually in leaf litter at the base of a wooded, north-facing slope on limestone or schist substrates. Down woody material that helps maintain moist soil conditions and lessens sun exposure is an important habitat element. Mystery vertigo was not common in taluses but could be found crawling on rock surfaces in moist weather and appears to feed on the organic coating of rock surfaces and partially decayed leaves. All sites with mystery vertigo were in the central or northern Black Hills or the Bear Lodge Mountains. This species was not found within the project area, but it was found relatively close to the project area, indicating it could be present. The mystery vertigo is rare in the United States and occurs only in South Dakota (21 sites); Wyoming (2 sites in the Bear Lodge Mountains); Michigan (1 site); Maine (2 counties); and a few northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota sites (Frest & Johannes 2002). The species appears to be more common in adjoining areas of southern Canada, generally from the Great Lakes eastward. Mystery vertigo is currently ranked “apparently secure” globally and critically imperiled in South Dakota (NatureServe 2011). Frigid Ambersnail (SOLC) Nekola (2003) considered this species a “duff-specialist.” Duff specialists were strongly affected by human activities, suggesting that protecting soil and surface characteristics are important in their conservation. In 2002, the Forest received the final report for a contract to inventory and/or monitor 357 sites for land snails (Frest & Johannes 2002). The frigid ambersnail was found in 12 of the 357 sites inventoried/monitored. The frigid ambersnail was rare at all locations, and very few live adults were observed during the early 1990s surveys. Live specimens were identified at one site close to the Project Area (Site 349), indicating that the species may be found throughout the project area in similar habitat (refer to Frest & Johannes 2002 for exact location of this site). Locations are widely distributed geographically across the Forest at varying elevations (3,800 to 6,800 feet). The species was usually found on limestone but also on schist soils, and colonies were often found in somewhat dry wooded limestone talus, generally near the slope base. They were most often found in rather open ponderosa pine forest, often with a secondary deciduous tree and shrub component, although white spruce was a minor component at a few sites. According to Frest and Johannes (2002), the family of land mollusks that includes the frigid ambersnail is associated not only with rather moist forest sites but also with quite dry and open settings in much of the western United States. The frigid ambersnail is currently found only in Iowa (14 sites), South Dakota (12 sites), and Wisconsin (Frest & Johannes 2002). The frigid ambersnail is currently ranked as critically imperiled globally and in South Dakota (NatureServe 2011). Striate Disc (SOLC) In 2002, the Forest received the final report for a contract to inventory and/or monitor 357 sites for land snails (Frest & Johannes 2002). The striate disc was found live in only 18 of the 357 sites inventoried/monitored. Striate disc was most often found in litter in rich mesic forest, generally on shaded, north-facing slope bases, often bordering or 60
Vestal Final Environmental Impact Statement Chapter 3 ranging slightly onto stream floodplains. They were most frequently in white spruce communities but also aspen and riparian habitats at the base of slopes where deciduous trees and shrubs were often common. Most sites had soils derived from weathered limestone, although four sites were on schist substrate. Foraging substrate consists of decayed deciduous leaves and herbaceous plants. Down woody material that helps maintain moist soil conditions and lessens sun exposure is an important habitat element. Sites where the striate disc occurs appear restricted to the higher elevations of the limestone plateau of the west-central and north-central portions of the Black Hills. No specimens were found within or near the project area. The range of the striate disc includes Wyoming (2 sites), Montana (1), Colorado (perhaps 26 sites), South Dakota, Oregon (1), California (2), Utah (5), Arizona (3), and New Mexico (7) (Frest & Johannes 2002). NatureServe (2009) also lists 5 records in Montana. Live sites have also been reported from several Canadian provinces. The striate disc is currently ranked globally as G5 (secure), and S2 (imperiled) in South Dakota (NatureServe 2011). Sharp-shinned Hawk (SOLC) Sharp-shinned hawks nest almost exclusively in conifers, with the exception of some densely leafed deciduous trees that also provide nest concealment (Platt 1976, Reynolds et al. 1982, Joy 1990). On the Forest, nests occur in white spruce (Stephens & Anderson 2002) and in pine forest. Sharp-shinned hawks have also recently been detected in ponderosa pine, riparian, aspen, and burned habitats on the Forest, but these were not observations of nest sites (Panjabi 2001, 2003 and 2005). The association between nesting habitat and young seral stage has been noted by several authors (Bildstein & Meyer 2000, Bosakowski & Smith 2002, Stephens & Anderson 2002), but they have been found nesting in mature sites. On the Black Hills National Forest, one of the two documented sharp-shinned hawk nests was located in a 42-acre stand of white spruce sapling/pole-sized trees. Young stands with mid-to-high canopy cover levels for nesting correspond most closely with structural stages 3B (sapling-pole stands with 40 percent to 70 percent canopy closure) and 3C (sapling-pole stands with greater than 70 percent canopy closure). Canopy closure ranged from 30 to 70 percent, but previous studies have tended to find high canopy closure (i.e., ≥68 percent) characterizing nesting habitat (Bildstein & Meyer 2000, Bosakowski & Smith 2002). Habitat loss or alteration resulting in a loss of suitable nesting habitat as well as a decrease in prey abundance and availability are thought to be the most significant threats to accipiter species’ persistence (Reynolds 1983, Stephens & Anderson 2002). Habitat loss may also occur as forests mature beyond early seral stages. The sharp-shinned hawk breeds from Alaska to Newfoundland, south throughout much of North America, Mexico, and into Central and South America wherever suitable habitat occurs (Stephens & Anderson 2002). The species is considered a partial to long-distance migrant, with northern-most individuals wholly abandoning their breeding ranges and wintering in the southern United States. Other birds may remain on their breeding ranges throughout the winter. In South Dakota, the sharp-shinned hawk is considered “uncommon,” with the only recorded occurrences in the western part of the state (Peterson 1995). In the Black Hills, they have been observed at all elevations (Peterson 1995), but estimates of local abundance are not available due to their low numbers 61
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Final Environmental Impact Statement

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