812 acres 8,741 acres 160,651 acres 0.5% of habitat on Forest 5% of habitat on Forest 10% of total acres on Deschutes National Forest For the detailed assessment on the Williamson’s sapsucker for the Deschutes National Forest, see the Forest-wide Species Assessment (USFS 2012). There are no documented sightings of Williamson’s sapsucker in the project area. Measure: Williamson’s sapsucker habitat change in quality (tolerance level) due to proposed actions. Environmental Consequences Alternative 1 No Action (Ecological Trend) – Under Alternative 1 (No Action), current management plans would continue to guide management of the project area. The project area, being juxtaposed between roadless areas and private land, poses an accessible spot for federal firefighters to fight a wildfire with greater safety. This alternative forgoes the opportunity to reduce fuel loadings (mostly snags created from mountain pine beetles) in the area, putting adjacent habitat at risk. As sapsuckers, this species utilizes live trees as well as dead wood for foraging; providing habitat for insects eaten by sapsuckers (Gyug et al. 2014). The increased fuel loading puts the remaining live trees at risk. This would result in a loss of foraging habitat. Alternatives 2 and 3 - Direct and Indirect Effects Actions that are expected to have impacts to Williamson’s sapsucker habitat are salvage of small lodgepole pine (<20” dbh) snags (i.e. the removal of potential nesting habitat) and the removal of mistletoe white fir (i.e. removal of food and nesting source). Table 48. Amount of proposed treatments within Williamson’s sapsucker habitat by alternative and snag density category*
812 acres 0.5% of habitat on Forest 8,741 acres 5% of habitat on Forest 160,651 acres 10% of total acres on Deschutes National Forest For the detailed assessment on the Williamson’s sapsucker for the Deschutes National Forest, see the Forest-wide Species Assessment (USFS 2012). There are no documented sightings of Williamson’s sapsucker in the project area. Measure: Williamson’s sapsucker habitat change in quality (tolerance level) due to proposed actions. Environmental Consequences Alternative 1 – No Action (Ecological Trend) Under Alternative 1 (No Action), current management plans would continue to guide management of the project area. The project area, being juxtaposed between roadless areas and private land, poses an accessible spot for federal firefighters to fight a wildfire with greater safety. This alternative forgoes the opportunity to reduce fuel loadings (mostly snags created from mountain pine beetles) in the area, putting adjacent habitat at risk. As sapsuckers, this species utilizes live trees as well as dead wood for foraging; providing habitat for insects eaten by sapsuckers (Gyug et al. 2014). The increased fuel loading puts the remaining live trees at risk. This would result in a loss of foraging habitat. Alternatives 2 and 3 - Direct and Indirect Effects Actions that are expected to have impacts to Williamson’s sapsucker habitat are salvage of small lodgepole pine (<20” dbh) snags (i.e. the removal of potential nesting habitat) and the removal of mistletoe white fir (i.e. removal of food and nesting source). Table 48. Amount of proposed treatments within Williamson’s sapsucker habitat by alternative and snag density category*
Ursus_MISAnalysis_Report_Final%2005042016.docx