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Bowers Field Wildlife Hazard Management Plan <br />2 Wildlife Hazard Evaluation <br />For airports serving turbine -powered aircraft, the FAA (AC 150/5200-33C) recommends <br />a separation distance of 10,000 feet between the airport's aircraft operating area and <br />hazardous wildlife attractants. Hazardous wildlife attractants are those features that offer <br />food, water, and/or shelter to hazardous wildlife. These attractants should be avoided, <br />eliminated, or mitigated within this separation distance. <br />USDA WS conducted a WHE to use in the development of this WHMP. This evaluation <br />involved 12 formal and 1 informal site visits to ELN from February 2022 through <br />January 2023. The purpose of the site visits was to identify the presence or absence of <br />hazardous wildlife throughout the year and identify the features that attracted them. <br />Although the number of animals, location, and activity were recorded, USDA WS did not <br />attempt to quantify these observations in a manner allowing for rigorous statistical <br />analyses, such as those of a formal FAA -approved WHA. <br />USDA WS gave specific attention to evaluating the effects of cattle grazing on airport <br />property. USDA WS identified the presence of multiple hazardous wildlife guilds and <br />significant hazardous wildlife attractants. Some wildlife guilds posed a risk throughout <br />the year while others posed risks seasonally. <br />2.1 Methods <br />The airfield was divided into different locations based on habitat type, boundaries, and <br />roads (Figure 2). Twenty -minute incursion surveys were conducted at 2 points along the <br />runway and/or a transect was driven during each site visit. An incursion survey is used to <br />specifically document wildlife crossing the runway. The transect generally took 90 to <br />120 minutes to complete. When hazardous wildlife were observed, a line was drawn into <br />a GIS (ESRI ArcGIS Pro, Figure 3) database developed by USDA WS in Washington, <br />showing the movement path/location of the animal(s). The date, time, weather, location, <br />species, abundance, activity, and attractant observed were recorded for each entry. <br />Species were grouped into respective guilds, based on taxonomy. <br />Blackbirds — European starlings, red -winged blackbirds, and yellow -headed blackbirds; <br />Corvids — American crows, black -billed magpies, and common ravens; <br />Raptors — American kestrels, bald eagles, northern harriers, red-tailed hawks, rough - <br />legged hawks, sharp -shinned hawks, and turkey vultures; <br />Shorebirds — killdeer; <br />2-1 <br />31 December 2024 <br />