Timber harvesting may reduce the 

 habitat quality within the 

 proposed units. The proposed 

 project area occurs in spring 

 grizzly bear habitat. The 

 effects of timber harvesting on 

 grizzly bears are not 

 conclusive. Small sample sizes 

 and different harvesting 

 practices limited the inference 

 about seasonal grizzly bear use 

 of cutting units. Other 

 factors, such as levels of human 

 disturbance and the amount of 

 hiding cover, may also confound 

 determinations of seasonal 

 grizzly bear habitat use. 

 Therefore, it is difficult to 

 speculate on the effects of this 

 particular project on spring 

 habitat; however, they probably 

 range from neutral to slightly 

 negative. Forage production is 

 anticipated to increase. No 

 long-term increases in open- or 

 total-road densities are 

 proposed, which would minimize 

 grizzly bear disturbance. 



Security core would not be 

 entered or altered in this 

 alternative. The amount of 

 DNRC-owned security core would 

 remain at 12 percent of the Lazy 

 Creek Grizzly Bear Management 

 Subunit and 50 percent of the 

 Stryker Grizzly Bear Management 

 Subunit . 



No permanent changes to the 

 status of existing roads would 

 occur, and only a 0.3 -mile 

 section of road would be 

 constructed; this section of 

 road would be reclaimed after 

 use. Road-density levels would 

 return to their present levels 

 upon completion of the proposed 

 project. Several of the 

 proposed units exist along open 

 roads; hence, harvesting within 

 these units will not alter open- 

 road densities. Other harvest 

 units behind closed gates are 

 small enough to facilitate 

 harvesting during an intensive 

 30 -day period followed by road 



closure; this would not cause a 

 change in road status. Winter 

 logging of the remaining larger 

 units behind closed gates (such 

 as Units 10 and 11) would 

 prevent an increase in open-road 

 densities impacting grizzly 

 bears in the area. 



Cumulative Effects 



• Ciimiilatice Elffecttt ofJYo-, Iction 

 ^lltcrnatice ^1 on Grissly lienrit 



Motorized access to the area, 

 security and hiding cover, and 

 spring habitat would all remain 

 unchanged. In the long term, 

 forest succession would continue 

 and may reduce food sources, but 

 may increase the amount of 

 hiding cover. 



• Cumulative IJ^ecltt of -Iction -llternntiee 

 II on Griszlj/ Jlenrx 



The increased use of road 

 systems during all of the 

 proposed and active projects, 

 including those on private 

 industrial lands, may 

 temporarily increase human 

 disturbance to grizzly bears 

 within the Lazy Creek and 

 Stryker Grizzly Bear Management 

 Subunits. Long-term open- and 

 total-road densities would not 

 increase due to the proposed Dog 

 Meadow Timber Sale Project. FNF 

 manages 12 percent of the 

 subunit on the Whitefish Divide, 

 which receives minimal human 

 disturbance. Reductions in 

 hiding cover would be additive 

 to the reductions due to past 

 DNRC timber sales; however, 

 considerable hiding cover exists 

 within these subunits. Early 

 successional stages of 

 vegetation occurring on harvest 

 units would provide foraging 

 opportunities that do not exist 

 in some mature stands. 



Mitigation Measures Included: 



• Retain forested corridors to 

 maintain landscape connectivity. 



Page E-12 



Dog/Meadow Timber Sale Project Draft EA 



