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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 4 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Environmental Consequences PAGE 4-90 Black-tailed jackrabbit have been documented with a half mile of a 1.9 mile section of Route Segment 2b. Potential impacts include a reduction and degradation of habitat, disturbance and displacement from habitats, increase in predation from avian predators, increased human activity, introduction and spread of noxious weeds, and injury or mortality due to collision with construction equipment. RDFs to address the impacts are described in Sections 4.3.3.1 and 4.3.3.2. Impact levels to black-tailed jackrabbits are expected to be moderate for 1.9 miles and low for 14.4 miles. All habitat disturbance associated with Route Segment 2b is within the Regularly Occupied Habitat MU for Sage-Grouse. Construction activities would disturb less than one percent of Regularly Occupied Habitat (Table 4.3-7). Approximately eight miles of this route segment borders JBLM YTC’s southern boundary. This route segment has been disturbed by an existing fire break, fence line, agriculture, and road network and was selected to minimize additional impacts to Sage-Grouse habitat. Anticipated ground disturbance includes 67.6 acres of suitable Sage-Grouse habitat, 21.5 acres of marginal habitat, and 6.3 acres of unsuitable habitat (Table 4.3-8). RDFs are anticipated to be effective at reducing impacts to Sage-Grouse habitat (refer to Sections 4.3.3.1 and 4.3.3.2). With the implementation of RDFs, the scale of disturbance and degradation to Sage-Grouse habitat is anticipated to be low for 5.2 miles and moderate for 11.1 miles. The Range 12 Fire of 2016 burned approximately 175,000 acres in areas located in Yakima and Benton counties, Washington. This fire burned approximately 13.2 miles along Route Segment 2b. Post-fire restoration efforts for the Range 12 fire are in development and impacts to wildlife habitat have not been fully assessed following the fire. Construction of Route Segment 2b would require an estimated 116 structures in a landscape dominated by low growing grasses and shrubs. All new structures would be located greater than 0.25 mile from an existing transmission line or trees (Table 4.3-5). Eighty four percent of the Route Segment 2b ROW is within the estimated Sage-Grouse population range and 41 percent of the ROW corridor is within the core population range (Figure 3.3-4). Approximately 7.3 miles of Route Segment 2b are within four miles of an active lek. The lek is described in Section 4.3.3.3 Sage-Grouse. Potential impacts to lekking Sage-Grouse would be minimized by the implementation of RDFs (refer to Sections 4.3.3.1 and 4.3.3.2). Lek impact levels are anticipated to be low for 9 miles and moderate for 7.3 miles. 4.3.4.6 Route Segment 2c Habitat along this Route Segment has been fragmented and disturbed by roads, developed land, agricultural/cropland, and annual grass establishment. The eastern portion of this route segment parallels two existing transmission lines for approximately 8.5 miles. 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 wildlife habitat have not been fully assessed following the fire. Approximately 39.5 acres of long-term and 49.4 acres of short-term disturbance would occur through the construction of Route Segment 2c. Most of the permanently disturbed area would be sagebrush/perennial grassland (24.8 acres), annual grassland (9.4 acres), and agriculture/disturbed ground (5.2 acres; Table 4.3-4). Short-term disturbance is predominately agricultural/disturbed areas (27.3 acres) and annual grassland (21.7 acres). Perennial grassland makes up the remaining 0.5 acre of disturbance. RDFs would be implemented to minimize habitat loss and degradation, as described in Section 4.3.3.1. Impact levels to habitat are expected to be low for 13.5 miles and moderate for 4.6 miles (sagebrush/perennial grassland).