[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 127 (Friday, June 30, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40601-40606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16546]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 127 / Friday, June 30, 2000 / 
Notices  

[[Page 40601]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Land and Resource Management Plan Direction for Canada Lynx in 
Colorado and Southern Wyoming

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
in conjunction with amendments to land and resource management plans 
for the Routt National Forest; Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests; 
Pike and San Isabel National Forests; the Sun Juan National Forest; 
Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests; and the Rio 
Grande National Forest located in the State of Colorado; and the 
Medicine Bow National Forest located in the State of Wyoming. The 
environmental impact statement will also evaluate proposed management 
direction pertaining to Canada lynx for the draft revised land and 
resource management plan for the White River National Forest, located 
in the State of Colorado. This notice replaces the notice of March 28, 
2000 titled Land and Resource Management Plan Amendments for Canada 
Lynx in Colorado and Southern Wyoming.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to part 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
219.10(g), the Regional Forester for the Rocky Mountain Region gives 
notice of the agency's intent to prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) in conjunction with the establishment of new management 
direction for the Canada lynx on National Forests in Colorado and 
Wyoming. On the basis of new information regarding lynx biology 
developed since the issuance of the land and resource management plans 
(hereafter referred to as Forest Plans or Plans) mentioned above, the 
Forest Service has identified a need to update management direction. 
This notice describes a proposal to change Forest Plans to the extent 
necessary to respond to recommendations in the Canada Lynx Conservation 
Assessment and Strategy (LCAS) and other new information regarding the 
Canada lynx and its habitat.
    This new management direction will be established by amending the 
Land and Resource Management Plans for the Routt National Forest; 
Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests; Pike and San Isabel National 
Forests; the San Juan National Forest; Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and 
Gunnison National Forests; the Rio Grande National Forest, and the 
Medicine Bow National Forest. The White River National Forest will 
include lynx management direction in its final revised forest plan 
scheduled to be completed in May 2001. However, the proposed lynx 
management direction for the White River will be described and analyzed 
in this EIS in order (1) properly evaluate cumulative environmental 
effects, (2) adequately disclose such effects to the public, and (3) 
provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the proposed 
direction. The analysis of effects relating to the White River National 
Forest will be incorporated into the FEIS for that Forest's Revised 
Land and Resource Management Plan.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be 
postmarked by August 14, 2000. The agency expects to file a draft 
environmental impact statement with the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) and make it available for public, agency, and tribal government 
comment in the fall of 2000. A final environmental impact statement is 
expected to be filed in early 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Chris Liggett, Team Leader, Lynx 
Plan Amendment Team, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, PO Box 
25127, Lakewood, Colorado 80225-0127.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Liggett, Team Leader, (303) 275-
5158.

RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL: Lyle Laverty, Rocky Mountain Regional Forester, 
P.O. Box 25127, Lakewood, CO 80225-0127.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Regional Forester gives notice that the 
Rocky Mountain Region of the USDA Forest Service is beginning an 
environmental analysis and decision-making process for this proposed 
action so that interested or affected people can participate in the 
analysis and contribute to the final decision. The Forest Service is 
seeking information, comments, and assistance from individuals, 
organizations, tribal governments, and federal, state, and local 
agencies who are interested in or may be affected by the proposed 
action (36 CFR 219.6). The public is invited to help identify issues 
and define the range of alternatives to be considered in the 
environmental impact statement. The range of alternatives to be 
considered in the DEIS will be based on issues and specific decisions 
to be made. Written comments identifying issues for analysis and the 
range of alternatives are encouraged.

Proposed Action

    The proposed action has two parts: the first is to amend Forest 
Plans for the Routt National Forest; Arapaho and Roosevelt National 
Forests; Pike and San Isabel National Forests; the San Juan National 
Forest; Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests; the Rio 
Grande National Forest, and the Medicine Bow National Forest to, as 
necessary, establish or revise goals, objectives, standards, 
guidelines, and monitoring requirements that respond to recommendations 
contained in the LCAS and other new information regarding the lynx and 
its habitat. The decision to be made regarding this part of the 
proposed action is how to amend the Forest Plans listed above to 
incorporate the new direction regarding lynx, if at all.
    The second part of the proposed action is to describe and evaluate 
management direction for lynx in relation to the draft revised Forest 
Plan for the White River National Forest. A final decision regarding 
the adoption of that direction will be made when the Record of Decision 
is issued for the White River's Revised Land and Resource Management 
Plan. That decision is expected in the spring of 2001.
    Attachment 1 displays that key LCAS recommendations phrased in 
terms of goals, standards, and guidelines that will be considered as 
part of the environmental analysis process. Note that existing and 
proposed Forest Plans may already contain some direction that is 
essentially the same as the LCAS recommendations. Each plan will be

[[Page 40602]]

changed only to the extent necessary to appropriately respond to the 
LCAS recommendations and other new information.
    A range of alternatives that respond to issues developed during 
scoping will be considered when assessing the proposed action. A 
reasonable range of alternatives will be evaluated and reasons will be 
given for eliminating some alternatives from detailed study, if that 
occurs. A ``no-action alternative'' is required, meaning that new 
management direction for the Canada lynx would not be established in 
Forest Plans.

Purpose and Need

    The purpose and need for this proposal is to establish Forest Plan 
management direction designed to respond to the recommendations in the 
LCAS and other new information concerning the lynx and its habitat. 
This proposal is limited to the National Forests in the Rocky Mountain 
Region and Southern Rocky Mountain Geographic Area that have lynx 
habitat (see list above).
    The Secretary of Interior listed the Canada lynx as a threatened 
species on March 24, 2000. That decision took effect 30 days after 
publication, on April 24, 2000. A key finding of the listing decision 
is that ``the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms, 
specifically the lack of guidance for conservation of lynx in Federal 
land management plans'' (Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 50 CFR part 17, Determination of Threatened Status for the 
Contiguous U.S. Distinct Population Segment of the Canada Lynx and 
Related Rule, p. 147) has contributed to the species' decline. When a 
species is listed, section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act 
requires Federal agencies to ensure that activities they authorize, 
fund, or carry out are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence 
of the species or destroy or adversely modify its critical habitat.
    This action is also needed to assure that land and resource 
management plans are in compliance with species viability requirements 
in the planning regulations that implement the National Forest 
Management Act. The Rocky Mountain Region has identified the lynx as a 
sensitive species, it is listed by the State of Colorado as an 
endangered species, and the State of Wyoming lists the lynx as a 
``protected animal'', meaning it is protected from take.
    A large amount of new information about the lynx has become 
available in the past two years. Key elements of this new information 
to be considered include: (1) The LCAS; (2) a compendium and 
interpretation of current scientific knowledge in ``Ecology and 
Conservation of Lynx in the United States, published in October 1999; 
(3) the Canada Lynx Conservation Agreement, prepared in February 2000 
and signed by the Forest Service Regional Foresters and Fish and 
Wildlife Service Regional Directors responsible for the geographic 
areas within the range of the lynx in the conterminous United States; 
(4) the release of lynx in Colorado by the Colorado Division of 
Wildlife; and (5) the decision by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, 
effective April 24, 2000, to list the lynx as a threatened species in 
the conterminous United States, under the provisions of the Endangered 
Species Act. This information has provided a better understanding of 
the lynx, its prey base and habitat requirements, particularly the 
forest communities it uses and the ecology of those forests, and risk 
factors affecting lynx productivity, mortality, and movements. Forest 
Plans in the Region were largely developed before issues regarding the 
lynx were identified and without the benefit of the new information on 
the lynx and its habitat.''

Public Participation

    The first formal opportunity to comment took place during the 
initial scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7) which began with the issuance 
of the original notice of intent on March 28, 2000, and ended on May 
11, 2000. The issuance of this revised notice marks the beginning of a 
new scoping period, which will end on August 14, 2000. The purpose of 
this scoping period is to solicit comments on issues relating to the 
addition of the White River National Forest to the proposed action and 
environmental analysis, and the effect that may have on any or all of 
the Forests listed in this notice. Comments submitted during the 
original scoping period do not need to be resubmitted.
    Public participation will be solicited with news releases or by 
notifying people in person or by mail. All comments, including the 
names and addresses when provided, are placed in the record and are 
available for public inspection and copying at the Forest Service 
Regional Office. Persons wishing to inspect the comments are encouraged 
to call ahead (303-275-5103) to facilitate entrance into the building.
    The Forest Service will work with tribal governments to address 
issues concerning Indian tribal self-government and sovereignty, 
natural and cultural resources held in trust, Indian tribal treaty and 
Executive order rights, and any issues that significantly or uniquely 
affect their communities.

Preliminary Issues

    Some preliminary issues have already been identified and are listed 
below. These issues apply only to National Forest System lands on the 
units listed previously in this notice.
     The adoption of new Forest Plan goals, objectives, 
standards, guidelines and monitoring requirements (hereafter referred 
to as ``management direction'') is expected to maintain or enhance 
habitat conditions for the lynx on National Forest lands. Project 
implementation is expected to facilitate the development of landscape 
and site characteristics suitable for lynx and its principal prey, the 
snowshoe hare.
     The adoption of new management direction may affect the 
areas where winter and summer recreation take place and how and when 
these activities are conducted. Activities like cross country skiing, 
snowmobiling, off-road vehicle use and developed recreation facilities 
could be affected. New direction could also affect ski area operations 
and expansions.
     The adoption of new management direction may affect the 
ability to use roads and trails, the construction of roads and trails 
and the closure or decommissioning of roads and trails. This 
potentially influences activities like recreational use, oil and gas 
leasing, mineral development or other uses associated with Forest 
Service roads and trails.
     The adoption of new management direction may affect timber 
harvest practices in order to protect lynx denning sites and foraging 
areas or to minimize disturbance in key habitat linkage areas. New plan 
direction may also affect the type of harvest or the timing of harvest 
in order to preserve or enhance the habitat of the snowshoe hare, a key 
prey species.
     The adoption of new management direction may affect 
livestock grazing by requiring that vegetation conditions be maintained 
to support lynx prey species.
    The Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region is the lead agency. No 
joint lead agencies have been identified at this time. The Forest 
Service will continue to cooperate with other federal and state 
agencies as this action proceeds. There are no permits or licenses 
required to implement the proposed action.

Release and Review of the EIS

    The Forest Service expects the DEIS to be filed with the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be

[[Page 40603]]

available for public, agency, and tribal government comment in the fall 
of 2000. At that time, the EPA will publish a notice of availability 
for the DEIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the DEIS 
will be 45 days from the date the EPA publishes the notice of 
availability in the Federal Register.
    The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important 
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. First, potential 
reviewers of the DEIS must participate in the environmental review of 
the proposal, including this initial scoping period, in such a way that 
their participation is meaningful and alerts an agency to the 
reviewer's position and contentions; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. 
v. NRDC [435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978)]. Also, environmental objections that 
could be raised at the DEIS stage but are not raised until after 
completion of the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) may be 
waived or dismissed by the courts; City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 
1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc., v. Harris, 
490 F.Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of these court 
rulings, it is very important that those interested in this proposed 
action participate throughout the process, so that substantive comments 
and objections are made available to the Forest Service at a time when 
it can meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the FEIS.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns relating to the proposed actions, comments on the DEIS, 
when it becomes available, should be as specific as possible. It is 
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the 
draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the DEIS or 
the merits of the alternatives formulated and discussed in the 
statements. In addressing these points, reviewers may wish to refer to 
the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing the 
procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 40 
CFR 1503.3. After the comment period on the DEIS ends, comments will be 
analyzed, considered, and responded to by the Forest Service in 
preparing the Final EIS. The FEIS is scheduled to be completed in early 
2001. The responsible official will consider the comments, responses, 
environmental consequences discussed in the FEIS, and applicable laws, 
regulations and policies in making decisions regarding these 
amendments.
    The FEIS will be the basis for one or more decisions regarding 
Forest Plans within the range of the Canada lynx in the Southern 
Rockies geographic area. The responsible official will decide whether 
or not to implement management direction for the lynx in Forest Plans 
for the Routt National Forest; Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests; 
Pike and San Isabel National Forests; the San Juan National Forest; 
Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests; the Rio Grande 
National Forest, and the Medicine Bow National Forest. The responsible 
official will document these decisions and reasons for the decisions in 
one or more Records of Decision. The decisions will be subject to 
appeal in accordance with 36 CFR 215 in accordance with 36 CFR 217 
depending on whether the amendments are significant under the National 
Forest Management Act requirements at 36 CFR 219.10(f). In addition, 
the Rocky Mountain Regional Forester will make a separate decision 
regarding revision of the Forest Plan for the White River National 
Forest, and document it in another Record of Decision. That decision 
will be based primarily on the FEIS for the revised White River Land 
and Resource Management Plan, but will also utilize information 
contained in this FEIS.

    Dated: June 26, 2000.
Lyle Laverty,
Regional Forester, Rocky Mountain Region, U.S. Forest Service.

Attachment 1--Key Recommendations of the LCAS, Phrased in Terms of 
Potential Goals, Standards, and Guidelines

Goals, Standards, and Guidelines

    The goals, standards, and guidelines generally apply only to lynx 
habitat within a Lynx Analysis Unit. Lynx habitat occurs in mesic 
coniferous forests that have cold, snowy winters and provide a prey 
base of snowshoe hare. Lynx habitat is a mosaic within the Engelmann 
spruce, subalpine fir, lodgepole pine, aspen, mesic Douglas-fir and 
mesic white fir forested landscapes, generally between 8,000 and 12,000 
feet. High elevation sagebrush and mountain shrub communities found 
adjacent to or intermixed with the forest communities may be 
potentially important as habitat for alternative prey species.

Category: Physical

Water and Aquatic Resources--Riparian Areas and Wetlands

    Standard:
    Refer to:
     Range, standard #1.

Category: Biological

Range

    Goals:
    1. Mange grazing to maintain or move toward the composition and 
structure of native plant communities within lynx habitat and adjacent 
shrub-steppe habitats.
    Standards:
    1. Within lynx habitat, manage livestock grazing in riparian areas 
and willow carrs to maintain or achieve mid-seral or later condition to 
provide cover and forage for lynx prey species.
    2. Delay livestock use in post-fire and post-harvest created 
openings until successful regeneration of the shrub and tree components 
occurs.
    Guidelines:
    1. Ensure that ungulate grazing does not impede the development of 
snowshoe hare habitat in natural or created openings within lynx 
habitat.
    2. Manage grazing in aspen stands to ensure sprouting and sprout 
survival sufficient to perpetuate the long-term viability of the 
clones.
    3. Maintain or achieve mid-seral or higher condition in shrub-
steppe habitat that is within the elevational range of forested lynx 
habitat or that provides landscape connectivity between blocks of 
primary lynx habitat.

Silviculture

    Goals:
    1. Design regeneration harvest, planting, and thinning to develop 
characteristics suitable for lynx and snowshoe hare habitat.
    2. Maintain suitable acres or lynx habitat and juxtaposition of 
habitat through time when planning timber sales and related activities.
    Standards:
    1. Pre-commercial thinning will be allowed only when stands no 
longer provide snowshoe hare habitat (e.g., self-pruning processes have 
eliminated snowshoe hare cover and forage availability during winter 
conditions with average snowpack).
    2. In aspen stands within lynx habitat, favor regeneration of 
aspen.
    3. Following a disturbance such as blowdown, fires, insects, and 
disease, where lynx denning habitat is less than 10% of a Lynx Analysis 
Unit, do not salvage harvest when the affected area is smaller than 5 
acres if it could contribute to lynx denning habitat. (Exceptions are 
developed recreation sites or other sites of high human concentration.) 
Where larger areas are affected, retain a minimum of 10% of the 
affected area per Lynx Analysis Unit in patches of at least 5 acres to 
provide future denning habitat. In such areas,

[[Page 40604]]

defer or modify management activities that would prevent development or 
maintenance of lynx foraging habitat.
    Also refer to:
     Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Species, Lynx 
Analysis Units, standards 1 and 2.
     Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Species, Denning and 
Foraging Habitat, standard #1.
     Travelways, standard #1.
    Guidelines:
    1. Management activities retain adequate amounts of coarse woody 
debris for lynx and snowshoe hare cover, if it exists on site.
    2. Commercial thinning projects shall maintain or enhance lynx 
habitat.
    3. Design vegetation management activities that consider retaining 
or encouraging tree species composition and structure that will provide 
habitat for red squirrels or other lynx alternate prey species.
    Also refer to:
     Range, guideline #2.
     Threatened, Endangered, Sensitive Species, Denning and 
Foraging Habitat, guideline #1.
     Fire, guidelines 4 and 7.

Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Species

Lynx Analysis Units
    Goals:
    1. Maintain effectiveness of lynx habitat. (Effectiveness is 
primarily affected by high level of human use.)
    Standards:
    1. If more than 30% of the lynx habitat in a Lynx Analysis Unit 
(LAU) is currently in unsuitable condition, no further reduction of 
suitable habitat shall occur as a result of vegetation management 
activities.
    2. Vegetation management shall not change more than 15 percent of 
lynx habitat within a LAU to unsuitable condition within a 10-year 
period.
Denning and Foraging Habitat
    Goal:
    1. Provide a landscape with interconnected blocks of high quality 
foraging and denning habitat that allows lynx movement between these 
habitats.
    Standard:
    1. Within a Lynx Analysis Unit, maintain denning habitat on at 
least 10% of the area that is capable of producing stands with 
characteristics suitable for denning habitat. Denning habitat should be 
well distributed, in patches generally larger than 5 acres. This 
applies to vegetation treatment, timber harvest, prescribed fire, fire 
suppression actions, and other similar activities.
    Guidelines:
    1. In areas where future denning habitat is desired, or to extend 
the production of snowshoe hare foraging habitat where forage quality 
and quantity is declining due to plant succession, consider improvement 
of habitat through activities such as commercial thinning and selection 
harvesting. Use harvesting and thinning to retain and recruit 
understories of small diameter conifers and shrubs preferred by hares 
and to retain and recruit coarse woody debris.
    2. Maintain or improve the juxtaposition of denning to foraging 
habitat. This can be important in large wildfire events in late seral.
    3. Design vegetation and fire management activities to retain or 
restore lynx denning habitat on landscapes with the highest probability 
of escaping stand-replacing fire events.
Connectivity and Fragmentation
    Goals:
    1. Maintain and, where necessary and feasible, restore lynx habitat 
connectivity across forested landscapes and within and between Lynx 
Analysis Units. Facilitate wildlife movement within key linkage areas 
considering highway crossing structures when feasible.
    2. Within Lynx Analysis Units that have been fragmented by past 
management activities that reduced the quality of lynx habitat, 
management practices will be implemented to move toward forest 
composition, structure and patterns more similar to those that would 
have occurred under historical conditions and natural disturbance 
processes.
Predation/Competition
    Goal:
    1. Avoid management practices that would increase competition with 
and predation on lynx
    Prey Species:
    Goals:
    1. Reduce incidental harm or capture of lynx during predator 
control activities and ensure retention of adequate prey base.
    2. Retain and enhance existing habitat conditions for important 
lynx prey species and alternate prey species, such as the red squirrel.

Category: Disturbance Processes

Fire

    Goal:
    1. Restore fire as an ecological process through time and use fire 
as a tool to maintain, enhance, or restore lynx habitat.
    Standards:
    Refer to:
     Silviculture, standard #3.
     Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Species, Lynx 
Analysis Units, standards 1 and 2.
     Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Species, Denning and 
Foraging Habitat, standard #1.
    Guidelines:
    1. Consider prescriptions that can result in regeneration and the 
creation of snowshoe hare habitat when developing burn prescriptions, 
especially for lodgepole pine and aspen.
    2. Design burn prescriptions to promote response by shrub and tree 
species that are favored by snowshoe hare.
    3. Consider the need for pre-treatment of fuels before conducting 
management ignitions.
    4. In lynx habitat, avoid constructing permanent firebreaks on 
ridges or saddles.
    5. Minimize construction of temporary roads and machine fire lines 
to the extent possible during fire suppression activities in lynx 
habitat.
    6. In the event of a large wildfire in stands that were formally 
late seral, during the post-disturbance assessment prior to restoration 
or salvage harvesting, evaluate the potential for providing for lynx 
denning and foraging habitat.
    Also refer to:
     Silviculture, guideline #3.
     Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Species, Denning and 
Foraging Habitat, guidelines 2 and 3.

Category: Social

Recreation--Developed Recreation

    Standard:
    1. Locate new or relocated trails, roads, and ski lift termini to 
direct winter use away from diurnal security habitat.
    2. Protect key linkage areas when planning new or expanding 
recreational developments.
    Guidelines:
    1. Provide adequately sized coniferous inter-trail islands, 
including the retention of coarse woody material, to maintain snowshoe 
hare habitat when designing ski area expansions.
    2. Identify and protect potential lynx security habitats in and 
around proposed developments or expansions.
    3. Evaluate, and adjust as necessary, ski operations in expanded or 
newly developed areas to provide nocturnal foraging opportunities for 
lynx in a manner consistent with operational needs, especially in 
landscapes where lynx habitat occurs as narrow bands of coniferous 
forest across the mountain slopes.

[[Page 40605]]

Recreation--Dispersed Recreation

    Standards:
    1. Allow no net increase in groomed or designated over-the-snow 
routes and designated snowmobile play areas by Lynx Analysis Units 
unless the designation serves to consolidate unregulated use and 
improves lynx habitat. Winter logging activity would be an exception.
    Guidelines:
    1. Limit or discourage activities that result in snow compaction in 
areas where it is shown to compromise lynx habitat. Such actions should 
be undertaken on a priority basis considering habitat function and 
importance.
    Also refer to:
     Travelways, guidelines 3 and 4.

Category: Administrative

Infrastructure--Travelways

    Standard:
    1. Close temporary roads constructed for timber sale activities in 
lynx habitat to public use during the winter.
    Guidelines:
    1. Design new roads that could impact lynx habitat, especially the 
entrance, for effective closure and subsequent decommissioning, if it 
meets overall management objectives.
    2. Minimize roadside brushing on low speed, low volume roads in 
order to provide snowshoe hare habitat.
    3. Locate trails and roads away from forested stringers to avoid 
fragmentation.
    4. Minimize creation of permanent travelways on ridgetops and 
saddles that could facilitate increased access by lynx competitors in 
lynx habitat.

Real Estate--Land Adjustments

    Goal:
    1. Retain key wildlife linkage areas on National Forest System 
lands in public ownership. Cooperate with other ownerships to establish 
unified management direction via habitat conservation plans, 
conservation easements or agreements, and land acquisition.

Special Uses

    Goal:
    1. Design activities and facilities to minimize impacts on lynx 
habitat.
    Standard:
    1. Restrict authorized use under permits to designated routes when 
in lynx habitat on projects where over-snow access is required. Close 
newly constructed roads to public access during project activities. 
Upon project completion, evaluate the need to reclaim these roads.
    Guideline:
    1. Encourage remote monitoring of sites that are located in lynx 
habitat, so that they do not have to be visited daily.

Transportation and Utility Corridors

    Goals:
    1. Reduce the potential for lynx mortality related to highways.
    2. Work cooperatively with the Federal Highway Administration and 
State Departments of Transportation to address the movement needs of 
lynx.
    Standard:
    Maintain connectivity of lynx habitat during the planning for 
highway rights-of-ways, construction, reconstruction, and other 
possible transportation corridors.

GLOSSARY

    Fragmentation--Human alteration of natural landscape patterns, 
resulting in reduction of total area, increased isolation of patches, 
and reduced connectivity between patches of natural vegetation.
    Highway--A road that is at least 2 lanes wide, paved with asphalt 
or concrete. Average daily traffic may exceed 5,000 vehicles and speeds 
are 45 mph or greater.
    Key Linkage Areas--Critical areas for lynx habitat. Usually, the 
factors that place connectivity at risk are highways or private land 
developments. Special management emphasis is recommended to maintain or 
increase the permeability of key linkage areas.
    Lynx Analysis Unit (LAU)--The LAU is a project analysis unit upon 
which direct, indirect, and cumulative effects analyses are performed. 
LAU boundaries should remain constant to facilitate planning and allow 
effective monitoring of habitat changes over time. an area of at least 
the size used by an individual lynx, about 25-50 square miles in 
contiguous habitat (should be larger in less contiguous, poorer 
quality, or naturally fragmented habitat.
    Lynx Denning Habitat--Habitat used during parturition and rearing 
of young until they are mobile. The common component appears to be 
large amounts of coarse woody debris, either down logs or root wads. 
The coarse woody debris provides escape and thermal cover for kittens. 
Denning habitat may be found either in older mature forest of conifer 
or mixed conifer/deciduous types, or in regenerating stands (greater 
than 20 years since disturbance). Denning habitat must be located 
within daily travel distance of foraging habitat.
    Lynx Diurnal Security Habitat--In lynx habitat, areas that provide 
secure winter daytime bedding sites for lynx in highly disturbed 
landscapes, e.g., large developed winter recreational sites or areas of 
concentrated winter recreational use. It is presumed that lynx may be 
able to adapt to the presence of regular and concentrated human use 
during winter, so long as other critical habitat needs are being met, 
and security habitat blocks are present and adequately distributed in 
such disturbed landscapes. Security habitat will provide lynx the 
ability to retreat from human disturbance during winter daytime hours, 
emerging at dusk to hunt when most human activity ceases. Security 
habitats will generally be sites that naturally discourage winter human 
activity because of extensive forest floor structure, or stand 
conditions that otherwise make human access difficult, and should be 
protected to the degree necessary. Security habitats are likely to be 
most effective if they are sufficiently large to provide effective 
visual and acoustic insulation from winter human activity and to easily 
allow movement away from infrequent human intrusion. These winter 
habitats must be distributed such that they are in proximity to 
foraging habitat.
    Lynx Foraging Habitat--Habitat that supports primary prey (snowshoe 
hare) and/or important alternate prey (especially red squirrels) that 
are available to lynx. The highest quality snowshoe hare habitats are 
those that support a high density of young trees or shrubs (greater 
than 4,500 stems or branches per acre), tall enough to protrude above 
the snow. These conditions may occur in early successional stands 
following some type of disturbance, or in older forests with a 
substantial understory of shrubs and young conifer trees. Coarse wood 
debris, especially in early successional stages (created by harvest 
regeneration units and large fires), provides important cover for 
snowshoe hares and other prey. Red squirrel densities tend to be 
highest in mature cone-bearing forests with substantial quantities of 
coarse woody debris.
    Lynx Habitat--Lynx occur in mesic coniferous forest that have cold, 
snowy winters and provide a prey base of snowshoe hare. Lynx records 
occur predominantly in lodgepole pine, subalphine fir, Engelmann 
spruce, and aspen vegetation cover types on subalpine fir habitat types 
in the western United States. Cool, moist Double-fir, grand fir, or 
western larch forest, where they are interspersed with subalphine 
forests, also provide habitat for lynx.
    Primary Lynx Habitat--Habitat that must be present to support 
foraging, denning, and rearing of young (in the

[[Page 40606]]

western U.S. primary habitat is lodgepole pine or subalphine fir 
habitat types).
    Secondary Lynx Habitat--Other vegetation types, when intermingled 
with or immediately adjacent to primary habitat, that contribute to 
lynx annual needs (cool/moist Douglas-fir habitat types adjacent to 
primary habitat).
    Unsuitable Habitat Condition--An area that is capable of producing 
lynx foraging or denning habitat, but which currently does not have the 
necessary vegetation composition, structure and/or denisyt ot support 
lynx and snowshoe hare populations during all seasons. For example, 
during the winter, vegetation must provide dense cover that extends 
above (greater than 6 feet) the average snow depth. Timber harvest, 
salvage harvest, commercial thinning, and prescribed fire may or may 
not result in unsuitable habitat conditions.
    Snowshow Hare Habitat--See foraging habitat.

 [FR Doc. 00-16546 Filed 6-29-00; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-81-M