II. METHODS 



A, LITERATURE REVIEW 



An extensive review was conducted of the files maintained by 

 the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the U.S. 

 Forest Service, Kootenai National Forest, in order to obtain all 

 the records con aining information pertinent to the Libby Dam 

 project area ar i the wildlife populations that utilized the area. 

 Reports by other agencies - U.S. Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service and the Montana Department of Natural Resources 

 and Conservation - were also reviewed. All the information was 

 summarized and organized in a project card file for information 

 retrieval during future stages of this project. 



Perse al contacts were made with peopl' from the area who had 

 knowledge of the wildlife populations inhabiting the area prior to 

 project construction, or who could aid in the development of the 

 impact analyses. Ihese contacts provided valuable help in develop- 

 ing the impact analyses when limited data were available for 

 certain wildlife species. 



B. HABITAT TYPING 



The habitat types within the pool area were combined and 

 mapped into generic habitat majping units based on wildlife use, 

 vegetative composition, and structure. Conifer habitat units were 

 generalized groupings of habitat types described by Pfister et al. 

 (1977) , and were the same as those used by the U.S. Forest Service, 

 Kootenai National Forest, during the development of the current 

 (1983) draft forest plan (Appendix A). A complete description of 

 these habitat units is included later in this section. 



U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps (1:24,000) were used 

 as a base map for the habitat mapping. A series of 1963 black and 

 white aerial photos (1:15,840) were used to identify the extent of 

 the various mapping units within the pool area, with the units 

 delineated on the base map or on an acetate overlay. In addition, 

 a series of 1965 black and white oblique jiiotos, with flight lines 

 flown along both sides of the Kootenai River, were used to aid in 

 the identification and delineation of the mapping units. Adjacent 

 habitat types were determined from U.S. Forest Service, Kootenai 

 National Forest, habitat maps based on Pfister et al. (1977). 

 Habitats on areas of private land located adjacent to the reservoir 

 were usually not previously mapped, and an extrapolation of the 

 habitat types on adjacent U.S. Forest Service lands was made for 

 these areas using the available aerial photos as a guide. After 

 the habitat units were map^d, the acreage of each unit was deter- 

 mined and the total acreage of each habitat mapping unit within the 

 pool area compiled. 



