4. Th« And«rson Ranch and Black Canyon Proposals (Summarized from "Wildlife 

 Protection Mitigation and Enhancement Plans - Anderson Ranch and Black Canyon Facilities," 

 Final Report, 1986.) 



Anderson Ranch Dam is located on the South Fork of the Boise River, about 20 air miles 

 north of Mountain Home, Idaho. The reservoir inundated 4,740 acres of habitat, 18.3 miles of river 

 channe* and 6.7 miles of tributaries. Anderson Ranch Dam (40 MW) was completed in 1950 and is 

 operated and maintained by the Bureau of Reclamation. Congress provided no funding to mitigate 

 the impacts on wildlife at the project 



Black Canyon Dam is located on the Payette River near Emmett, Idaho. The reservoir, at full 

 pool, extends about nine miles upstream from the dam and covers about 1,100 acres. Black 

 Canyon Dam (8 MW) was completed in 1924 and is also operated and maintained by the Bureau. 

 Black Canyon Dam and upstream storage reservoirs provide a system that allows the Bureau to 

 optimize irrigation releases and power production. Deadwood and Cascade reservoirs were both 

 authorized with expectations of contributing to federal power production at Black Canyon Dam. 

 Congress provided no funding to mitigate the impacts on wildlife. 



The wildlife mitigation proposals for Anderson Ranch and Black Canyon dams were 

 completed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game in late 1986 and submitted to the Council 

 for action in 1987. Development of the mitigation proposals for these facilities was consistent with 

 the planning provisions outlined in Section 1003(b) of the Council's fish and wildlife program. The 

 Idaho Department of Fish and Game was the lead agency for the development of the loss 

 statement and mitigation proposals. All of the pertinent federal and state wildlife agencies, tribes 

 and the Bureau participated in the development of the mitigation proposals. 



a. Wildlife Losses. Like the Palisades proposal, the method used to estimate the net 

 impacts to wildlife as a result of Anderson Ranch and Black Canyon dams was a habitat-based 

 approach using the Habitat Evaluation Procedure. An interagency work group of biologists 

 selected evaluation species to represent important species groups or species of special concern. 

 Impacts to evaluation species were measured in terms of the difference between pre- and post- 

 construction habitat units. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game states that only impacts 

 attributable to hydropower were evaluated. The agency maintains that since the projects were 

 economically unfeasible without the hydropower benefits, the wildlife mitigation costs should be 

 fully attributable to hydropower development. 



147 The Bureau leased 2,300 acres to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game between 1953 and 

 1978 (not renewed). Project lands around the reservoir received national forest status in 

 1968. The Forest Service received full administrative authority for these lands in I97a 



157 The upper one-third of the reservoir has silted in, causing flooding of adjacent land. The 

 Bureau has acquired 1 ,095 acres of these lands. These lands are managed as the Montour 

 Wildlife/Recreation Area under an agreement signed by the Bureau and the Waho Department 

 of Fish and Game in 1983. The Bureau also leases about 35 acres to the Idaho Department 

 of Fish and Game downstream of the dam under an agreement signed in 1981. 



167 See footnote 7. 



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