Soup Creek Road and 2 acres 

 along the western edge of 

 private land in Section 17, a 

 66-foot width of ladder fuel 

 vegetation would be thinned to 

 reduce fire hazard to private 

 property. In this area, visual 

 screen/hiding cover could be 

 reduced, but would be retained 

 in the adjacent timbered 

 stands . In other salvage 

 units, trampling of vegetation 

 and construction of skid trails 

 could slightly alter small 

 pockets or strips of hiding 

 cover, visual screening, and/or 

 forage . These areas would not 

 likely affect the area's 

 ability to provide habitat for 

 grizzly bears appreciably. 

 Since hiding cover, visual 

 screening, and forage resources 

 are not expected to be altered 

 substantially; no change in 

 bear use of the area is 

 expected. Therefore, these 

 effects are expected to be 

 negligible. 



Grizzly bears could experience' 

 minor direct effects due to the 

 disturbance associated with the 

 project. The increased 

 disturbance could result in 

 avoidance of the project and 

 surrounding area while project 

 is active. To mitigate 

 additional disturbance, several 

 strategies would be 

 incorporated into the project ^^ 

 design. ;• 



• Harvesting would occur 



between July 14 and August 31 

 of 2 003 and during the 

 denning period of 2003/2004. 

 Project activities would 

 avoid the spring and autumn 

 periods . 



Harvesting activities in the 

 linkage zone would be 

 conducted as late in the 

 summer period as possible, 

 allowing a longer period of 

 time earlier in the year when 



the area would not receive 

 additional disturbance. 



During the 2 003 bear year, 

 only 1 other salvage project 

 (Soup Creek Salvage Project) 

 could occur on DNRC lands in 

 the South Fork Lost Soup 

 Subunit. The Soup Creek 

 Salvage Project is adjacent 

 to the proposed Big Slowdown 

 Project area {FIGURE E-1 - 

 LOCATION OF THE PROJECT AREA 

 AND PROPOSED HARVEST UNITS) . 

 The Soup Creek Salvage 

 Project is expected to be 

 completed in approximately 1 

 week during the same time 

 period as the Big Slowdown 

 Salvage Project. All other 

 planned projects on DNRC 

 lands in the South Fork Lost 

 Soup Subunit would be would 

 be accomplished during the 

 denning period or postponed 

 to the summpr period of 2004 

 or later. 



Signs and physical 

 restriction devices (usually 

 gates) would notify the 

 public that restricted roads 

 are still restricted to the 

 public during the active and 

 inactive periods (evenings, 

 weekends, periods of 

 shutdown, etc.) of 

 harvesting. 



Once a restricted road system 

 is opened for salvage 

 operations, the operator 

 using that system would be 

 required to harvest all units 

 accessed by that road system 

 and secure the road, before 

 moving to a new area. This 

 design feature is expected to 

 limit disturbance associated 

 with harvest operations and 

 road use to small areas in 

 the project area at any one 

 time. If more than one 

 operator is working in the 

 area, several systems could 

 be used concurrently. If 

 this situation occurs, more 



Big Slowdown Salvage 



Page E-9 



