PD-17-00001 Marian Meadows Full Record with Index (2)

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Marian Meadows Rezone and Subdivision Final Environmental Impact Statement 1-30 Fish and Wildlife Because of the distance to surface water and the soil conditions that promote infiltration, little impact on fish is expected. Residential development and increased human presence would reduce the amount of suitable habitat for many species, as well as the quality of remaining habitat. Forest and shrub vegetation would be converted to housing, roadways, and lawns or other ornamental plantings with reduced structural diversity. Use of the site would change from the current pattern of occasional daytime recreational use to one in which human activity would become a permanent feature. Under all alternatives, the presence of residences with associated clearing of vegetation and introduction of noise, light, and domestic animals would discourage elk and other sensitive species such as mule deer from using the site. The likely continued use of the site for off-road vehicle use would further curtail habitat use. White-tailed deer, which are less sensitive than mule deer or elk to human disturbance, may become a nuisance due to foraging patterns that include ornamental plantings and vegetable gardens. Elk likely would continue to use the site as a migration corridor for movement between the summer habitat to the north and winter range along the Yakima and Cle Elum rivers. Elk can tolerate some human disturbance during migration and may tend to move quickly through the Marian Meadows property during periods with low levels of human use, such as at night or in the early morning. Alternative 1, the applicant’s PUD proposal with 443 units, would have the greatest impact on wildlife due to residential development throughout the site. The flat, western portion of the site would be almost entirely divided into relatively small residential lots with little habitat potential. The eastern portion of the site (except for the highest-elevation areas in the northeastern corner) would also be converted to residential use, although with somewhat larger lot sizes. Wetlands and stream corridors on the site would become isolated and fragmented and lose much of their habitat value. The intensity of residential use would substantially impair migration of large mammals such as elk and mule deer. The remaining corridor on the western part of the site, the BPA transmission line easement, is relatively narrow and would be bounded on one side by lots, which would create substantial sources of disturbance from noise, lights, and animals such as dogs and impair wildlife movement. The impacts of the proposed mini-storage units on the east side of the BPA corridor would result in an additional source of disturbance that would substantially increase impacts on animals using the corridor and likely substantially reduce use, resulting in a shift in migration pattern to less suitable corridors. The potential migration corridor through the upper portion of the site would be impaired to an even greater extent by the subdivision of the less steep sloping lands across which herds would be most likely to travel.