2007-07-01_REVISION - C1980007 (2)

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' Only one black bear was observed in the Lick Creek drainage, but there was considerable evidence of black bear activity found throughout the study area. The black bear population in the North Fork Valley is high and continues to grow. Development ' activities in this and other project areas have not been a deterrent to their activities. t When evaluating potential effects on big game habitat use from proposed development activities two things must be considered; (1) numbers of animals that might use the area for winter or transition range and (2) total amount of habitat available. Based upon ' observations made during these studies elk and deer numbers are low from spring through fall. In the winter most animals will be found below where most development activity will occur. Considering the amount of suitable habitat available throughout the ' area from spring through fall transition periods there will be little affect on either deer or elk activity. ' NEOTROPICAL BIRDS Birds observed, other than listed species and raptors, were what would be expected in the ' various habitat types found in the project area. A total of 68 species were observed while conducting transects or as opportunistic observations. (See Table 5) In May there were numerous species of migrating birds observed in the study area. By June numbers of ' those species declined as they had moved on through the area. In June and July birds that breed in the area were observed almost exclusively. ' As is commonly found when conducting bird studies, there are preferred habitat types within any study area. In addition, there are birds that are habitat generalists and others that have specific habitat requirements. As shown by the data collected for this project ' the greatest diversity of birds was found in aspen and Gamble oak/mountain shrub habitat. Riparian habitat typically has the highest diversity and density of birds and would probably have been higher had there been more diverse riparian habitat in the ' study area. Riparian habitat was limited and lacked the vegetation typically found in riparian areas where density and diversity of birds is higher. The greatest diversity of birds in riparian habitat was found along the Dry Fork of Minnesota Creek in areas where ' there was less gradient and vegetation such as willows, hawthorn, alder and red osier dogwood were more common. Many of the bird species shown for the riparian habitat were also found in other adjacent oakbrush/mountain shrub habitat. This is a reflection of the influence of neighboring habitat types. The large expanses of aspen and oakbrush/mountain shrub habitat help minimize the ' potential impacts to neotropical birds from lost habitat due to construction of drill pads and access roads. Considering the total number of acres of these types available and the few acres that will be lost, potential impacts to these birds will be minor. In addition, as ' sites and roads are reclaimed species used to revegetate these areas will add to the diversity of the areas. Observations made during other surveys conducted for energy development projects in the North Fork Valley have shown that as vegetation becomes ' established along the road corridors and around pads, both the density and diversity of birds increases. 15