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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 3 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Affected Environment PAGE 3-100 Eighty four percent of the Route Segment 2b ROW is within the estimated Sage-Grouse population range and 41 percent of the ROW is within the core population range. Approximately 36 percent (70,636 acres) of the total JBLM YTC 95 percent population range is within four miles of Route Segment 2b (Figure 3.3-4). One active lek (Lek #4) occurs within four miles of Route Segment 2b (Table 3.3-5). Lek #4 is located approximately 1.5 miles north of Route Segment 2b. From the time this lek was discovered, in 1998, through 2014 it was occupied every year, with an average count of 13 males. No males were observed at the lek in 2015, but it is still considered an active lek, because three males were counted in 2014 (SEE 2015). Additionally, three historic leks occur within four miles of Route Segment 2b. 3.3.4.6 Route Segment 2c Route Segment 2c extends southeast across private property to the Midway-Moxee 115 kV and Union Gap-Midway 230 kV transmission lines, which it proceeds to closely parallel for 8.6 miles of the route segment’s 18.1-mile total length. The eastern half of the route segment is within approximately one-half mile of State Highway 24. Vegetation along Route Segment 2c consists of a mix agriculture (10,566 acres, 42%), annual grassland (7,092 acres, 28 percent), and sagebrush/perennial grassland (6,861 acres, 27%) and provides suitable habitat for shrub-steppe and grassland species (Table 3.3-2). The entire Route Segment 2c ROW is within designated elk winter range. Three burrowing owl nests and breeding long-billed curlews have been documented within one mile of Route Segment 2c. Most of the route segment ROW is within the Rattlesnake Hills Sage-Grouse MU (Regularly Occupied Habitat), and the remainder is within a tier 3 MU (Occasionally Occupied Habitat; Table 3.3-8). The eight-mile wide Sage-Grouse analysis area also encompasses area set aside by JBLM YTC as a primary and secondary protection zones for Sage-Grouse. Habitat along this Route Segment has been fragmented and disturbed by roads, developed land, agricultural/cropland and annual grass establishment. Fire records indicate that several fires have occurred within and adjacent to this route segment. The Range 12 Fire of 2016 burned approximately 15.2 miles along Route Segment 2c. As previously stated, post fire restoration efforts for the Range 12 fire are in development and impacts to Sage-Grouse habitat have not been assessed. The eight-mile wide Sage- Grouse analysis area for Route Segment 2c contains 51,815 acres of suitable Sage-Grouse habitat (42 percent of the analysis area), 143 acres of marginal habitat (<1 percent), and 71,834 acres of unsuitable habitat (58 percent; Table 3.3-9). Fifty nine percent of the Route Segment 2c ROW is within the estimated Sage-Grouse population range, and 29 percent of the ROW is within the core population range. Approximately 29 percent (55,768 acres) of the JBLM YTC 95 percent population range is within four miles of Route Segment 2c (Figure 3.3-4). One active lek (Lek #4) occurs within four miles of Route Segment 2a (Table 3.3-5). Lek #4 is located approximately 2.9 miles north of Route Segment 2c; it is described in more detail for Route Segment 2b, to which it is more closely located. Additionally, three historic leks occur within four miles of Route Segment 2c. 3.3.4.7 Route Segment 2d Route Segment 2d extends northeast for seven miles to the Columbia River and through a landscape that is vegetated almost exclusively by sagebrush/perennial grassland (9,825 acres, 90 percent), providing habitat for grassland and shrub-steppe species (Table 3.3-2). Most of Route Segment 2d is within designated elk winter range, and regular concentration areas for mule deer and chukar occur within one mile near the northern end of the route segment. Three ferruginous hawk nests were documented within one mile of the route segment in 2010—the nearest was approximately 0.24 miles away. Cliffs along the Columbia River provide nesting habitat for raptors and