the loss of approximately 167 

 acres of habitat harvested in 

 the Good/Long/Boyle Timber Sale 

 Project and the 597 acres 

 harvested in the Taylor South 

 Timber Sale Project (EA-based 

 acreages that are subject to 

 change with project layout) . 

 Potential fisher denning, 

 resting, and foraging habitats 

 would be retained in the 

 riparian buffers. Landscape 

 connectivity within the subunits 

 is largely intact, and human 

 disturbance and potential 

 trapping mortality will remain 

 relatively unchanged since no 

 changes in access within the 

 subunits will be realized. 



Mitigation Measures Included: 



• Reclose roads and skid trails 

 opened with the proposed 

 activities to reduce the 

 potential for unauthorized motor 

 vehicle use. 



• Retain vegetated buffers along 

 streams to provide potential 

 fisher denning, resting, and 

 foraging habitats. 



> piieated WoodpecKer (Dryocopus p/'ieatus) 



Issue 



There is concern that timber 

 harvesting could alter habitat or 

 create disturbance that would be 

 detrimental to the piieated 

 woodpecker. 



Existing Environment 



The piieated woodpecker is listed 

 by DNRC as a sensitive species 

 because of the important 

 ecological niche it occupies {DNRC 

 1996) . Piieated woodpeckers 

 excavate the largest cavities of 

 any woodpecker. The cavities are 

 frequently used in subsequent 

 years by many other species of 

 birds and mammals. Preferred nest 

 trees are western larch, ponderosa 

 pine, black Cottonwood, and 

 quaking aspen, usually 20 inches 

 dbh and larger. Piieated 



woodpeckers primarily eat insects, 

 mainly carpenter ants, which 

 inhabit stumps, snags, and large 

 downed logs. Nesting habitat for 

 piieated woodpeckers consists of 

 mature stands below 5,000 feet in 

 elevation with 100 to 125 square 

 feet per acre of basal area and a 

 relatively closed canopy (Aney and 

 McClelland 1985) . The feeding- 

 and nesting-habitat requirements, 

 including large snags or decayed 

 trees for nesting and large downed 

 wood for feeding, closely tie 

 these woodpeckers to mature 

 forests. The density of piieated 

 woodpeckers is positively 

 correlated with the amount of dead 

 and/or dying wood in a stand 

 {McClelland 1979) . 



Removal of large western larch by 

 past timber-harvesting activity 

 has reduced the quality of habitat 

 for piieated woodpeckers. Large 

 live and dead trees are less 

 common than would occur naturally 

 due to past timber-harvesting 

 activities. Black cottonwood 

 occurs within riparian areas along 

 perennial and intermittent 

 streams. Douglas-fir and grand 

 fir exist in the project area and 

 are primarily used for foraging. 



Modeling the above conditions 

 using SLI data generated an 

 estimate of piieated woodpecker 

 habitat. In the proposed project 

 area, potential piieated 

 woodpecker nesting habitat exists 

 on approximately 242 acres. 

 Younger-aged stands might provide 

 feeding or lower quality nesting 

 habitat. During field visits, 

 many feeding sites and 1 to 2 

 snags per acre were obseirved in 

 the proposed project area. 



Cumulative effects were analyzed 

 on the contiguous Stillwater State 

 Forest. 



Page E-20 



Dog/Meadow Timber Sale Project Draft EA 



