black-backed woodpeckers at the landscape scale. Because of the close 

 relationship of black-backed woodpeckers and wildfire, the analysis area 

 was defined as an area inclusive of four major fires near the project area, 

 the Black Mountain 2 and Boles Meadow fires, and the Mineral Primm 

 and Cooney Ridge Complex fires (see Appendix c: Figure C-2). Current 

 information regarding bum intensity was unavailable for the Mineral 

 Primm Complex. However, these fires likely created sizable acreages of 

 suitable black-backed woodpecker habitat. The 20,737-acre Mineral 

 Primm Complex is located largely within the Rattlesnake Wilderness area. 

 Those portions of this fire occurring in the wilderness area will remain 

 unharvested. The 4,210 acre Boles Meadow Fire occurred largely on 

 USFS and Plum Creek lands, with potential black-backed woodpecker 

 habitat on USFS lands. Table 1 provides estimates of the acres burned and 

 stand replacement acres created in each of the remaining fires. 



Table 1:. Estimates of acres burned and stand replacement severity acres 

 for the Dirty Ike, Black Mountain 2, Boles Meadow and Cooney Ridge 

 Complex fires. 



3.2.3.2.3 Flammulated Owl 



The flammulated owl is a tiny forest owl that inhabits warm-dry 

 ponderosa pine and cool-dry Douglas-fir forests in the western United 

 States and is a secondary cavity nester. Nest trees in 2 Oregon studies 

 were 22-28 inches dbh (McCallum 1994). Habitats used have open to 

 moderate canopy closure (30 to 50%) with at least 2 canopy layers, and 

 are often adjacent to small clearings. It subsists primarily on insects and is 

 considered a sensitive species in Montana. Periodic underbums may 

 contribute to increasing habitat suitability for flammulated owls because 

 low intensity fires would reduce understory density of seedlings and 

 saplings, while periodically stimulating shrub growth. 



Within the School Trust parcels affected by the Dirty Ike fire, there are 

 approximately 564 acres of flammulated owl preferred habitat types (SLI 

 data). Within the proposed salvage area, there are approximately 9.5 acres 

 of flammulated owl preferred habitat types. These acres were burned in a 

 high intensity, stand replacing fire. 



3.2.3.2.4 Fisher 



The fisher is a medium-sized animal belonging to the weasel family. 

 Fishers prefer dense, lowland spruce-fir forests with high canopy closure. 



Dirty Ike Salvage Environmental Assessment 



3-19 



