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CONSERVATION GROUPS’ COMMENTS <br />UNCOMPAHGRE FIELD OFFICE RMP AND DEIS <br />57 <br />subtracted from the totals.181 A deciduous plant goes dormant in the cold winter to <br />protect itself from the cold.182 The plant needs to stay dormant while the weather is <br />freezing and then know how soon after it gets above freezing it can safely start <br />growing.183 It must do it late enough so it doesn't get frozen back by a late frost but early <br />enough so it can get a full season of growth and fruiting in before it must go dormant for <br />the next year.184 The plant has a process, refined over millennia of evolution, that tells it <br />when to start growing in the spring, and that process accounts for the amount of above- <br />freezing temperature (the number of chilling hours) it needs.185 If winters are too warm, <br />the tree development will be damaged.186 If frost comes late and when the trees are in <br />bloom, an entire year’s harvest can be lost.187 Late frosts decimated crop production for <br />many orchardists two years in a row in the North Fork Valley, in 2014 and 2015.188 <br />Hunters and anglers are also experiencing the effects of climate change. The first <br />and second week of September used to consistently be the time of year to hunt for elk. 189 <br />Since the early 2000s, the temperatures during that period in September have been too <br />high for elk to remain at an elevation of approximately 9000 feet.190 Elk now migrate <br />higher, to 12,500- 13,000 feet, seeking cooler temperatures.191 Spring runoff is occurring <br />earlier and finishing earlier, which makes it difficult to fish during peak runoff.192 It is <br />also causing concern over spawning, because as the water flow diminishes at the end of <br />runoff, the flow is often not high enough to enable fish eggs to hatch, according to local <br />wildlife professionals.193 <br />All of the alternatives considered in the draft EIS would increase emissions over a <br />baseline year and would continue “business-as-usual” indirect climate emissions from coal <br />produced in the Somerset coal field and burned. The draft EIS must disclose the potential for a <br />megadrought, and disclose that BLM’s alternatives will only increase the chances of such an <br />event. Further, BLM must consider planning standards and goals that address the potential for a <br />megadrought and measures that can be taken to reduce the impacts of such a drought on fish, <br />wildlife, ecosystems, soils, etc. See also Section IV.C.2., discussing the impact of climate change <br />on stream flows in the Upper Colorado River Basin. <br /> <br /> 181 Id. 182 Id. 183 Id. 184 Id. 185 Id. 186 Id. 187 Id. 188 Id. 189 Interview with Mike Drake, sportsman and bow hunter. 190 Id. 191 Id. 192 Id. 193 Id.