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 of 



Helena, MT 59620 

 July 9, 1984 



Mr. Jim Meyer 



Bonneville Power Adm. - PJS 



P.O. Box 3621 



Portland, OR 97208 



Dear Mr. Meyer: 



The Libby Dam hydroelectric project had a detrimental impact on 

 the wildlife population utilizing the project area prior to 

 inundation. The project inundated 28,850 acres of diverse 

 wildlife habitats, which provided seasonal habitat components for 

 a diversity of wildlife species. This impact assessment, 

 developed through extensive coordination with the federal agencies 

 involved in the operation of the project or the management of the 

 wildlife resource, provides a comprehensive assessment of the 

 impacts to selected target species. These species were considered 

 to be the primary species impacted by the development of the 

 hydroelectric project. Comments received on the original draft of 

 the assessment, as well as those received during coordination 

 meetings held during the current process were incorporated into 

 this final assessment. 



Many of the impacts identified in this assessment are different 

 from those in the original impact assessment prepared by the U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service in 1965, which focused primarily on the 

 impacts to only five big game species. This document, however, 

 summarizes the best available information, including a thorough 

 review of the available site-specific information and literature 

 pertinent to the target species, and determines the impacts based 

 on this information. The original assessment determined some of 

 the target species, i.e., black bear, would not be impacted, while 

 in reality the inundated habitats were important seasonal habitats 

 for this species. Also, the original assessment did not state the 

 methods of analysis and assumptions that were utilized, while this 

 document outlines these in detail. 



This document represents Phase J of an ongoing process to achieve 

 complete mitigation for the impacts to the wildlife resource 

 resulting from the construction of the Libby Dam project. The 

 impacts identified in this document represent realistic goals for 

 mitigating the detrimental impacts to the wildlife resource. 

 Although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers previously funded 

 mitigation projects, additional mitigation has to be accomplished 



