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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 3
<br />230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Affected Environment
<br /> PAGE 3-97
<br />ROUTE SEGMENT SUITABLE HABITAT2 MARGINAL HABITAT3 UNSUITABLE HABITAT4
<br />NNR-5 28,425 71 12,193
<br />NNR-6o/NNR-6u* 52,922 187 11,968
<br />NNR-7 63,145 320 10,681
<br />NNR-8 28,583 1,333 15,183
<br />MR-1 44,094 3,881 35,312
<br />Entire Project 277,276 16,633 287,840
<br />1 Habitat Suitability within the eight-mile wide analysis area is derived from land cover types. Land cover types are a composite of GAP
<br />vegetation data, JBLM YTC vegetation data, and POWER field survey vegetation data.
<br />2 Suitable habitat includes sagebrush/perennial grassland.
<br />3 Marginal habitat includes sagebrush/annual grassland, riparian, intermittent stream, and bitterbrush/perennial grassland.
<br />4 Unsuitable habitat includes forb, perennial grassland, rabbitbrush/annual grassland, annual grassland and noxious weeds, basalt cliffs/rock,
<br />trees, and other (includes agriculture, developed/residential areas and open water).
<br />* o = overhead design option; u = underground design option.
<br />3.3.4.2 Route Segment 1b
<br />Route Segment 1b is 12.5 miles long and would be located just within the JBLM YTC boundary and
<br />would parallel an existing fire break road. Vegetation along Route Segment 1b is a mosaic of annual
<br />grassland (8,254 acres, 46 percent), sagebrush/perennial grassland (4,617 acres, 26 percent), and perennial
<br />grassland (3,671 acres, 21 percent) providing suitable habitat for grassland and shrub-steppe species
<br />(Table 3.3-2). Small ephemeral drainages support 61 acres of riparian vegetation and a 1.1-acre aspen
<br />stand.
<br />Route Segment 1b crosses 3.2 miles of long-billed curlew Priority Species Regional Area and additional
<br />potential habitat is present. Five burrowing owl nests were documented in 2000 within one mile of Route
<br />Segment 1b. There is a small loggerhead shrike concentration area on the north slope of Yakima Ridge
<br />just east of the ROW (<0.1 mile away). Black-tailed jackrabbits have also been documented on the north
<br />slope of Yakima Ridge, within one mile of Route Segment 1b. Elk winter range is located to the east,
<br />within one mile of 1b.
<br />The entire route segment ROW is within the Yakima Training Center Sage-Grouse MU (Regularly
<br />Occupied Habitat; Table 3.3-8). The eight-mile wide Sage-Grouse analysis area also encompasses area set
<br />aside by JBLM YTC as a primary and secondary protection zones for Sage-Grouse.
<br />Fire history records indicate there have been several fires within and near this route segment. Two fire
<br />breaks are present within most of the ROW corridor, consisting of bare ground, cheatgrass and Russian
<br />thistle (Kali tragus). Despite this disturbance, the adjacent habitat is predominantly high quality big
<br />sagebrush and stiff sagebrush with abundant native perennial bunchgrasses, low non-native species cover,
<br />and a diverse and abundant native forb layer. The eight-mile wide Sage-Grouse analysis area for Route
<br />Segment 1b contains 26,910 acres of suitable Sage-Grouse habitat (29 percent of the analysis area), 1,736
<br />acres of marginal habitat (two percent), and 64,404 acres of unsuitable habitat (69 percent; Table 3.3-9).
<br />Seventy-three percent of the Route Segment 1b ROW is within the estimated Sage-Grouse population
<br />range and 18 percent of the ROW is within the core population range. Approximately 26 percent (49,928
<br />acres) of the JBLM YTC 95 percent population range is within four miles of Route Segment 1b (Figure
<br />3.3-4). (Figure 3.3-4). Three active leks (Leks #1, #3, and #4) and one inactive lek occur within four miles
<br />of Route Segment 1b (Table 3.3-5). Lek #1 is located approximately 3.6 miles north of Route Segment
<br />1b. As it is slightly closer to Route Segment NNR-3, Lek #1 is described in more detail for Route
<br />Segment NNR-3. Lek #3 occurs approximately 2.9 miles northeast of Route Segment 1b. Lek #3 has been
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