Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
the total area on the forest. Mountain grasslands are now estimated to cover 192,037 acres (USFS,
2005 MIS Report). The most recent analysis indicates the quantity of mountain grassland acres
has changed due primarily to the way grasslands are classified and some shifting upon the
landscape. This habitat type is well represented and distributed across all four mountain districts
of the Cibola National Forest and the habitat trend is currently considered stable.
In the 1985 Cibola LRMP, mule deer was selected as a management indicator species for the
mountain shrub and piñon-juniper habitat found on the forest. The justification for this selection
reads as follows: “Mule Deer – browser, adaptable, easily identified and can be monitored by
known methods. Is a species of high public interest and can be managed for” (USFS, 2005 MIS
Report).
Sign and visual verifications were used to document mule deer in the permit area, and mule deer
were documented during all survey periods. Does with fawns, juveniles, and subadults were also
documented. These deer migrate seasonally from higher elevations in the summer to lower
elevations in the winter. They occur throughout the entire western United States, but mule deer
populations have been declining and forestwide population trends are down. Suitable grazing,
fawning, and winter range habitat for mule deer exists within the permit area (RHR, 2009d).
Mule deer habitat depends on the season with preferred habitat being arid, open areas and rocky
hillsides. Deer are browsers and eat a variety of vegetation. Approximately 57,755 acres of
mountain shrub is estimated to occur within Cibola National Forest and the forestwide habitat
trend is down. The Cibola National Forest contains 838,376 acres of piñon-juniper woodland and
the forestwide habitat trend is stable (USFS, 2005 MIS Report).
In the 1985 Cibola LRMP, juniper titmouse (formerly known as the plain titmouse) was selected
as a management indicator species for the piñon-juniper habitat found on the forest. The
justification for this selection was as follows: “Plain titmouse - low versatility rating; nest only in
piñon-juniper in this area.” Limiting factors for juniper titmouse appear to be natural cavities and
old woodpecker holes within the piñon-juniper woodlands (USFS, 2005 MIS Report).
This species is closely tied to piñon-juniper woodlands with approximately 39 percent or 838,376
acres of that habitat within the Cibola National Forest (USFS, 2005 MIS Report). Forestwide
population trends for this species are down and forestwide habitat trends are stable. Juniper
titmice were detected during all surveys, and breeding activity was documented within the permit
area (RHR, 2009d).
Roca Honda Mine Permit Area
Forest Service High Priority Migratory Birds
A total of 1,781 individual birds were observed with 59 species recorded during the breeding
seasons at Sections 9, 10, and 16. The most common bird species within the permit area appear to
be ash-throated flycatcher (Myiarchus tuberculifer), juniper titmouse (Baeolophus ridgewayi),
rock wren (Sappinctes obseletus), Bewick’swren (Thryomanes bewickii), and chipping sparrow
(Spizella passerina). During these surveys two raptor species—red-tailed hawk (Buteo
jamaicensis) and great horned owl (Bubo virginianus)—were documented. One great horned owl
nest was also found within the project site in Section 16. The nest was 500 feet from a potential
drill hole and within 50 feet of an existing road. Juvenile owls were found within ¼ mile of the
nest site during the breeding season surveys. Three golden eagles, one subadult and/or juvenile
DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest 223