opportunities in these stands 

 will decline as they age, 

 leading to a decline in edge 

 habitats and the amount of 

 younger stands, thereby 

 providing less-favorable habitat 

 conditions for snowshoe hares 

 that are the preferred prey for 

 lynx. 



• Direct and Indirect Fiffects of.lction 

 Mtematice B on Canada Lynx 



Under this action alternative, 

 activities are not proposed 

 within areas of high hare use or 

 potential lynx denning habitat. 

 Again, these younger stands will 

 decline in quality for foraging 

 habitats over time as they 

 mature. The proposed treatments 

 would increase the acreage in 

 earlier-aged stands that would 

 provide snowshoe hare habitat in 

 the future. Forest connectivity 

 around these openings will 

 largely be retained through 

 riparian buffers and other 

 forested habitats. 



Lynx may have adapted to move 

 between isolated foraging and 

 denning areas through forest 

 corridors in the southern extent 

 of their range f^Koehler and 

 Brittell 1990) . The riparian 

 buffers retained as fisher 

 habitat may be used as travel 

 corridors or denning habitat. 

 Large coarse woody debris is 

 more prevalent within the 

 riparian areas, possibly due to 

 the lower fire intensity within 

 these areas . 



Cumulative Effects 



• Cumulative li^ffects qfA'o-, Iction 

 ,1lternatice .1 on Canada Lynx 



Under this alternative, lynx 

 denning and foraging habitats 

 would not be affected in the 

 near- term. A majority of the 

 lynx denning and foraging 

 habitat in the Stryker and Lazy 

 Creek Grizzly Bear Management 

 Subunits is in the Stryker 



Ridge-Herrig Basin and Whitefish 

 Divide areas. No further 

 reductions in foraging or 

 denning habitat are currently 

 under proposal within these 

 subunits. The distribution and 

 quantity of potential lynx 

 denning habitat is not expected 

 to change within these subunits. 

 In the future, as stands age, 

 the quality of existing denning 

 habitats may improve; 

 recruitment of new denning 

 habitats is possible as 

 currently unsuitable stands 

 mature and develop necessary 

 habitat attributes. The Werner 

 Peak Fire created future 

 foraging habitats on 737 acres. 

 Foraging habitats were the by- 

 product of past harvesting on 

 adjacent private timberlands 

 within the Lazy Creek Subunit, 

 but the quality of these as 

 foraging sites is starting to 

 decline as they mature. 

 Otherwise, foraging habitats 

 within the Stryker and Lazy 

 Creek subunits are expected to 

 decline through time as young 

 foraging areas age. 



• Cumulative Injects of miction . llternative 

 II on Canada Lynx 



Since the expected effects of 

 this project on Canada lynx 

 would be minor, cumulative 

 effects would also be minor. A 

 majority of the lynx denning and 

 foraging habitats in the Stryker 

 and Lazy Creek Grizzly Bear 

 Management Subunits is in the 

 Stryker Ridge-Herrig Basin and 

 Whitefish Divide areas. No 

 further reductions in foraging 

 or denning habitat are currently 

 under proposal within these 

 subunits. The Werner Peak Fire 

 created future foraging habitat 

 on 737 acres. The foraging 

 habitat was the by-product of 

 past harvesting on adjacent 

 private timberlands within the 

 Lazy Creek Grizzly Bear 

 Management Subunit, but the 



Page E-16 



Dog/Meadow Timber Sale Project Draft EA 



