Wildlife Specialist report

nesting. The deepest parts of the tunnel system are between one and three yards
underground. Gophers block tunnel entrances with dirt, to prevent predator entry. This
species is fairly common on the Gila National Forest.
The Hooded skunk and Botta’s pocket gopher have been selected as focal species for
small mammals that occur in Desert shrub/grasslands, and pinon-juniper/shrub oak
woodlands. For the analysis of this species the analysis indicators (road miles and acres
of potential disturbance) will analyze the change in these habitats by alternative from the
existing condition.
Gunnison’s prairie dog (Forest Service Sensitive Species Representative of Plains
and Mountain Grasslands Vegetation Cover Types) – This species occurs in New
Mexico in the following habitat type(s): The mixed shrub habitat type occurs in lower
elevations below the mesas (elevation less than 6700 ft. or 2043 m). Broom snakeweed
is the dominant plant species. Rubber rabbitbrush and fourwing saltbush are interspersed
with sparse stand of big sagebrush. The sagebrush habitat type is found below the mesas
and is composed of dense stands of big sagebrush. Some small areas are dominated by
blue grama grass, western wheatgrass, cheatgrass, and squirreltail grass. Bare ground is
prevalent in some areas (BISON-M, 2009). The juniper habitat type which is located in
the Zuni River valley bottom is dominated by one seed juniper with an occasional pinon
pine and alligator juniper. Shrubs scattered throughout this type include big sagebrush,
broom snakeweed, and rubber rabbitbrush. Grasses in this type include blue grama grass,
crested wheatgrass, red three-awn, cheatgrass, sixweeks fescue, Indian ricegrass, and
squirreltail grass (grazing has been heavy in juniper areas). These animals live in
grasslands in the northern and western part of the state where the black-tailed prairie dogs
do not occur. Gunnison's prairie dogs have been found to inhabit Great Basin Desert
Scrub habitat in New Mexico (BISON-M, 2009). The southern limit of this species is
reached in the Mogollon Mountains of southwestern New Mexico, may be extirpated or
is uncommon on the Gila National Forest.
White Mountains Ground Squirrel (Forest Service Sensitive Species Representative
of Plains and Mountain Grasslands Vegetation Cover Types) - The thirteen-lined
ground squirrel is a grassland species that is common only in the shortgrass plains of the
northeastern part of New Mexico. Where there are relict grasslands in the foothills and
valleys of certain mesic mountain ranges, small isolated colonies are sometimes found,
for example, in the Sacramento Mountains, around the periphery of the San Augustin
Plains, and in the White Mountains of Arizona. V. Bailey (1932) reported them common
in parks in the ponderosa forest of the Sacramentos, but we have found them very hard to
observe and very uncommon in any montane areas (BISON-M, 2009). This species is
uncommon on the Gila National Forest.
The Gunnisons’s prairie dog and White Mountain ground squirrel have been selected as
focal species for small mammals that occur in plains and mountain grasslands. For the
analysis of this species the analysis indicators (road miles and acres of potential
disturbance) will analyze the change in these habitats by alternative from the existing
condition.
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