these large trees reduces the 

 potential for heartrot infection. 

 Unless the affected tree was 

 already infected with heartrot, 

 additional nesting trees and 

 hollow logs for use by wildlife 

 species are not expected. 

 Additionally, continued increased 

 mortality would reduce snag and 

 coarse woody debris over the long 

 term. The recently killed trees 

 would continue to provide 

 wildlife forage and a source of 

 Douglas- fir bark beetles, which 

 would infect other trees . 



• Cumulative Eiffecta of the Action 

 Alternative ■ Coarse Filter 



The loss of deadwood resources 

 would be additive to past 

 reductions, primarily salvage 

 harvests, on Swan River State 

 Forest. The South Wood Timber 

 Sale, Goat Squeezer Timber Sale, 

 and Soup Creek Salvage projects 

 are currently active or in the 

 planning process. All these 

 actions incorporated retention 

 standards for snag and log 

 retention. These standards were 

 designed to retain adequate 

 levels of deadwood for wildlife 

 and ecological resources. This 

 alternative would continue to 

 remove deadwood from Swan River 

 State Forest; however, as 

 discussed earlier, mitigations to 

 retain adequate amounts of 

 deadwood and structure are 

 expected to conserve important 

 deadwood habitats . 



FINE-FILTER ANALYSIS 



In the fine- filter analysis, 

 individual species of concern are 

 evaluated. These species include 

 wildlife species Federally listed as 

 threatened or endangered, species 

 listed as sensitive by DNRC, and 

 species managed as big game by DFWP. 

 These species are addressed below. 



THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES 



> Bald Eagle 



The bald eagle is classified as 

 "threatened" and is protected 

 under the Endangered Species Act. 

 Strategies to protect the bald 

 eagle are outlined in the Pacific 

 States Bald Eagle Recovery Plan 

 [USFWS 1986) and Montana Bald 

 Eagle Management Plan (Montana 

 Bald Eagle Working Group, 1994) . 

 Management direction involves 

 identifying and protecting 

 nesting, feeding, perching, 

 roosting, and wintering/migration 

 areas (USFWS 1986, Montana Bald 

 Eagle Working Group, 1994) . 



Bald eagles prefer multistoried 

 nesting habitats with 40 to 70 

 percent canopy coverage and 

 emergent trees within topographic 

 line-of -sight to an associated 

 water source with an adequate 

 food supply. The emergent trees 

 and/or snags need to be large 

 enough (more than 25 inches dbh) 

 to support nesting or perching 

 bald eagles. Additionally, bald 

 eagles prefer cottonwood, 

 Douglas-fir, and ponderosa pine 

 trees (Wright and Escano 1986) . 

 In western Montana, bald eagles 

 also use western larch and 

 Engelmann spruce . 



No nesting activity in or near 

 the project area is documented. 

 The nearest documented nest site 

 is at the south end of Swan Lake, 

 approximately 5 miles north of 

 the project area. Potential 

 nesting habitat exists along Swan 

 River. Since this project would 

 not occur near Swan River and 

 existing large western larch 

 trees and snags would be left, no 

 effects to bald eagles are 

 expected. Therefore, the bald 

 eagle was considered no further 

 in this analysis. 



> Canada Lynx 



Canada lynx are listed as 

 "threatened" under the Endangered 



Page E-4 



Wildlife Analysis 



