Issue 4: Habitat that is important to moose may be degraded by the proposed action. 



Analysis of this moose issue will utilize the project and analysis areas previously described for 

 elk. Moose are the largest ungulate in North America, distributed throughout Alaska, Canada, 

 and many of the border states. In general, moose habitat includes: areas of abundant high- 

 quality winter browse; shelter areas that allow access to food; isolated sites for calving; aquatic 

 feeding areas, young forest stands with deciduous shrubs and forbs for summer feeding; mature 

 forest that provides shelter from snow or heat; and mineral licks (Thompson and Stewart 1998). 

 As such, much of the Upper Willow Creek drainage bottom is considered moose winter range 

 habitat by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, and the surrounding uplands 

 receive overall use by moose. The project area is immediately adjacent to, and the analysis area 

 contains, the Upper Willow Creek bottom, which contains several shrub species that moose 

 forage upon. Additionally, along the border between Sections 5 and 8, T8N, R15W, within the 

 project area, there are 7 potholes ranging in area from 0.43 to 1 .7 acres, and totaling 6.28 acres. 

 Within the 1,786-acre project area, there are 212 acres that receive overall use by moose, and 

 1,599 acres of moose winter range. Currently there are no regenerating clearcuts within the 

 project area forested habitat. Within the 29,1 19-acre analysis area, approximately 24,093 acres 

 receive overall use by moose and 13,383 acres are considered to be moose winter range habitat. 

 Currently, there are approximately 3,150 acres of regenerating clearcuts within the analysis area, 

 for a total of 10.8% of the total analysis area. 



Both the project and analysis areas are located within moose hunting district 210, which issued 4 

 bull and 4 cow permits, respectively, to harvest moose in 2002. Rempel et al. (1997) evaluated 

 the effects of different landscape management strategies designed to benefit moose populations 

 in Ontario and speculated that the greatest hindrance to increasing moose populations was 

 increases in hunter access resulting from roads required to implement the habitat management 

 strategies. Thus, increasing hunters' road access might degrade moose habitat quality due to 

 increased hunting vulnerability. Currently there are 0.04 miles of open road and 3.8 miles of 

 gated/locked roads within the project area, and 57.8 miles and 40.2 miles, respectively, within the 

 analysis area. Areas behind locked gates are accessible for walk-in hunting opportunities. 



Issue 5: Threatened, endangered and sensitive animal species. 



In Chapter 1 several animal species, which are classified as threatened, endangered or sensitive, 

 were identified and further analysis eliminated because of habitat requirements. The lynx, 

 grizzly bear, gray wolf, black-backed woodpecker, and flammulated and boreal owls are species 

 of special concern that may occur within the project area. 



Lynx 



The analysis area for lynx consists of a one-mile radius area surrounding and including the 

 project area. Lynx could occur within the project area. Lynx prefer extensive areas of remote 

 habitat. The analysis area is surrounded by nearly 90,000 acres of essentially unroaded 

 coniferous forest. Potential lynx denning habitat consists of relatively dense stands (at least 50% 

 canopy closure) of mature forest structure at 5,000 feet elevation or higher, in spruce-fir habitats, 

 which contain numerous downed logs or root wads. Most stands on the west side of the project 



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