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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 4 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Environmental Consequences PAGE 4-107 Creek Canyon and avoid disturbing riparian vegetation. The RDFs to address habitat loss and degradation (Section 4.3.3.1) will reduce impacts to pallid bats. Route Segment NNR-3 is expected to have no identifiable impacts to pallid bats. Bighorn sheep winter range occurs within one mile of Route Segment NNR-3 and is crossed by the route segment’s ROW corridor in two areas totaling 3.7 miles: on the steep slopes surrounding Burbank Creek and the steep slopes surrounding Lmuma Creek and its tributaries. Areas designated as year round and lambing habitat occur only outside of the Project area, primarily west of the Yakima River. Potential impacts to bighorn sheep include direct habitat loss, habitat degradation through weed invasion and/or changes in fire regime, collision with vehicles during construction and maintenance, and disturbance during construction and maintenance. Adherence to seasonal restrictions on construction activities within designated winter range should minimize disturbance impacts to bighorn sheep. Additional RDFs to minimize disturbance impacts and collision risk are described in Section 4.3.3.2; RDFs to minimize habitat loss and degradation are described in Section 4.3.3.1. Impact levels to bighorn sheep are anticipated to be moderate for the 3.7 miles of the route segment that overlap designated winter range. There is designated winter habitat for elk and mule deer (i.e., Columbian black-tailed deer), west of the Yakima River on Wenas Wildlife Area, approximately 0.8 mile from the route segment’s ROW corridor. No construction is anticipated to occur west of the Yakima River. If construction does occur within elk and mule deer winter range, seasonal restrictions would be adhered to (Section 2.3). No identifiable impacts are anticipated for elk and mule deer for Route Segment NNR-3. The majority of habitat disturbance associated with Route Segment NNR-3 would be located 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). Anticipated ground disturbance includes 41.4 acres of suitable Sage-Grouse habitat, 10.7 acres of marginal habitat, and 0.4 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). The scale of disturbance and degradation to Sage-Grouse habitat is anticipated to be low for 1.9 miles and moderate for 7.4 miles. Existing perching, roosting, and nesting sites for avian predators are available along Route Segment NNR-3 from buildings, trees, and fences associated with developed areas and existing distribution and 230 kV H-frame transmission lines. Construction of Route Segment NNR-3 would require an estimated 69 new structures; approximately five (seven percent) would be located greater than 0.25 mile from an existing transmission line (Table 4.3-5). The estimated Sage-Grouse population range does not overlap the Route Segment NNR-3 ROW (Figure 3.3-4). Approximately 4.1 miles of Route Segment NNR-3 are within four miles of an active lek. Of the 4.1 miles of line within four miles of the active lek, approximately 1.6 miles and 11 structures would not be visually obstructed by terrain. 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 5.2 miles and moderate for 4.1 miles. Route Segment NNR-3 would cross Reclamation’s proposed Wymer Dam and Reservoir Project for approximately 0.2 mile. At this crossing, Route Segment NNR-3 is directly adjacent to Pacific Power’s existing Pomona-Wanapum 230 kV Transmission Line. For the proposed Wymer Dam and Reservoir Project, mitigation land acquisition and habitat enhancement components are intended to result in a net improvement in conditions for Sage-Grouse. Approximately 2.3 miles of Route Segment NNR-3 crosses private land targeted for mitigation acquisition to offset impacts from the proposed Wymer Dam and Reservoir Project.