FINE-FILTER 

 ASSESSMENT 



THREATENED AND 

 ENDANGERED SPECIES 



Four terrestrial wildlife species are federally 

 listed as threatened or endangered in north- 

 western Montana: 



NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN WOLF 

 (CANIS LUPUS IRREMOTUS) 



The Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf is classi- 

 fied as endangered under the 1973 Endan- 

 gered Species Act. As part of the 1987 North- 

 em Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan (U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service 1987), recovery zones 

 have been delineated where recovery of wolf 

 populations will be encouraged. The goal in 

 these recovery zones is to establish viable 

 populations; upon reaching certain population 

 thresholds, they would be downlisted to 

 threatened and, eventually, delisted. The 

 project area is within the Northwest Montana 

 Wolf Recovery Area. 



In the mid-1980s, wolves from British Colum- 

 bia naturally recolonized the Montana portion 

 of the North Fork of the Flathead River. Since 

 that time, dispersing wolves have established 

 packs in other parts of Montana. There has 

 been wolf activity in the project area the past 

 few years. The Whitefish Pack is known to use 

 the area in winter to take advantage of the big 

 game winter ranges, but it heads northeast 

 and over the next major divide for denning. 

 Wolves killed a mountain lion in the vicinity in 

 the late fall of 1996, and a Beaver Lake area 

 resident reported seeing a pair of wolves in 

 November of 1997. , 



Like the grizzly bear, the wolf is a habitat 

 generalist and will occur almost anywhere that 

 its preferred prey (most often large ungulates) 

 are abundant and vulnerable, and that perse- 

 cution from humans is tolerably low. Habitat 

 management for wolves primarily involves 

 maintenance of their big game prey base, 

 providing security (mainly by minimizing 

 motorized access and controlling trapping). 



and the site-specific protection of den and 

 rendezvous sites. 



Due to the existing density of open roads (2.9 

 miles per square mile), the area does not 

 currently provide good security for wolves. 



GRIZZLY BEAR (URSUS ARCTOS 

 HORRIBILIS) 



The grizzly bear is classified as threatened 

 under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. As 

 part of the 1993 Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan 

 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993), recovery 

 zones have been delineated where recovery of 

 grizzly bear populations will be encouraged. 

 The goal in these recovery zones is to establish 

 viable populations; upon reaching certain 

 population thresholds, the grizzly bear would 

 be delisted. The closest recovery zone is the 

 Northern Continental Divide Recovery Zone. 

 Because the project area is outside of the 

 recovery zone, grizzlies will receive cursory 

 treatment in this document. 



Occasional use of the area by grizzly bears is 

 suspected. ri .^: 



Grizzly bears are habitat generalists and have 

 large home ranges. Management for grizzlies 

 primarily involves minimizing accidental ai' / 

 mortality from black bear hunters, maintain- 

 ing security from motorized disturbance 

 through road management, and maintaining 

 food sources, such as big game and fish popu- 

 lations. Big game populations provide an 

 important food source in the spring on winter 

 ranges in the form of carcasses from winter 

 mortality. 



Due to the existing density of open roads (2.9 

 miles per square mile), the area does not 

 currently provide good security for grizzlies. 



EAGLES 



The bald eagle is classified as threatened and 

 is protected under the Endangered Species 

 Act. Strategies to protect the bald eagle are 

 outlined in Pacific States Bald Eagle Recovery 

 Flan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1986) and 

 Montana Bald Eagle Management Plan (Mon- 



Chapter III: Affected Environment 



-m-15 



