Current through Register Vol. 18, September 20, 2024
(1) The department
recognizes that certain plant and animal species, both terrestrial and aquatic,
are particularly sensitive to human activities in managed forests. Populations
of such species are usually small and/or declining. Continued adverse impacts
from land management activities may lead to their being federally listed as
threatened or endangered. Because sensitive species usually have specific
habitat requirements, consideration of their needs is recognized as a useful
and prudent fine filter for ensuring the department meets the primary goal of
maintaining diverse and healthy forests. Considering sensitive species in
management actions helps ensure that decisions will be made appropriate to the
fundamental philosophy and that additional federal listings will not be
necessary.
(a) However, if objective analyses
suggest that the underlying ecological forces would produce a distribution of
cover types different than those existing, it is appropriate to move toward the
historic pattern. Sensitive species considerations for habitat management are
not intended to preclude a general move toward historic representation of cover
types.
(2) The
department shall manage to generally support populations of sensitive species
on state trust lands. The department shall accomplish this by managing for site
characteristics generally recognized as important for ensuring their long-term
persistence. The department may accept localized adverse impacts, but only
within the context of an overall strategy that supports habitat capability for
these species.
(a) Department staff shall
report notable observations of sensitive plant and animal species to the
Montana natural heritage program (MNHP) or other appropriate data repository.
(b) Sites identified as important
on projects with identified sensitive plant species shall be monitored to
assess implementation of mitigation measures. On selected department projects
with listed sensitive animal species, periodic follow-up surveys would be
conducted to assess how well management actions have provided for site
conditions needed to support those populations.Deficiencies would be documented
and used to guide future management actions and mitigations.
(3) For sensitive plant species,
the department shall protect important sites and/or site characteristics with
mitigation measures applied to management activities likely to have substantial
long-term impacts. Prior to conducting planned land management activities, the
department, at its sole discretion, shall refer to databases maintained by the
MNHP, the United States forest service (USFS) and/or other appropriate sources
for information on occurrence of plant species of special concern. Where
information indicates potential for sensitive plant species and their habitat
to occur within project areas, field surveys and/or consultation with other
qualified professionals may be required to determine the presence, location,
and mitigation measures for sensitive plant species.
(4) For sensitive animal species, the
department shall provide habitat characteristics recognized as suitable for
individuals to survive and reproduce in situations where land ownership
patterns, underlying biological conditions, and geographical conditions allow
for them. The department's contribution toward conservation of wide-ranging
animal species that occur in low densities and require large areas to support
self-sustaining populations would be supportive of, albeit subsidiary to, the
principal role played by federal agencies with larger land holdings.
(5) For proposed projects, the department
shall look for opportunities to provide for habitat needs of sensitive animal
species, primarily through managing for the range of historically occurring
conditions appropriate to the sites. In blocked ownerships this shall include
consideration of such issues as connectivity and corridors. In scattered
ownerships, the department shall not necessarily commit to providing all the
life-requisites of individual members of sensitive species, particularly if
adjacent landowners managed in ways to limit the potential for individuals on
state trust lands to be part of functional populations.
(6) The forest management bureau chief shall
maintain a list of sensitive animal and fish species specific to each
administrative land office. The department shall develop and modify this list
using information and classification systems developed by the USFS, USFWS, MNHP
and, for fish species only, the FWP. The department shall use this list at the
project level for identifying species appropriate to consider in project
analyses at each administrative area office. The department shall base listing
by land office on general geographic distribution and habitat affinities of
animal species, and would not require site-specific evidence of presence on
state trust lands. Additions to, or deletions from this list, of any animal not
already categorized as sensitive by USFS region one, or as "fish species of
special concern" by FWP, would require written justification. The department
would not routinely conduct site-specific surveys for the presence of sensitive
animal species.
(7) BALD EAGLE:
(a) the department shall manage for bald
eagles consistent with the Montana Bald Eagle Management Guidelines
(2010);
(b) to guide management,
the department may use site-specific management plans by a qualified biologist
where applicable;
(c) maintenance
of habitat for breeding bald eagles, where no site-specific management plans
are in place, shall include recognition and delineation of three management
zones around each active bald eagle nest, including:
(i) nest site area;
(ii) primary use area; and
(iii) home range;
(d) the department shall consider the
following when conducting forest management activities within nest site areas:
(i) mechanized activities are restricted
between February 1 and August 15, unless:
(A)
the territory is documented as unoccupied during that breeding
season;
(B) the eagles have
fledged;
(C) nesting has
failed;
(D) eagles have left the
nesting area; or
(E) if allowed as
specified in a site-specific management plan;
(ii) helicopter activity for forest
management purposes shall not occur within 1,000 feet of an occupied bald eagle
nest; however, the department may grant exceptions for other motorized
activities such as road repair, maintenance, and planting, if, following site
review and documentation, activities are deemed to be:
(A) of short duration;
(B) outside of critical nesting periods;
and
(C) of minimal risk to nesting
adults or offspring;
(iii) harvest within 330 feet of an active
nest tree is prohibited, and the department shall design timber harvests to
maintain the structural and ecological characteristics of the nest site area to
include:
(A) moderate to well-stocked
overstory;
(B) large emergent
trees;
(C) snags;
(D) a multi-storied canopy; and
(E) vegetative screening from nearby low and
high intensity human activity;
(iv) the department shall protect such areas
from firewood cutting and gathering, to the extent practicable;
(v) the department shall limit additional
human activity, both low and high intensity, over which it has control between
February 1 and August 15 unless it has been documented by a qualified biologist
that:
(A) the eagles have fledged;
(B) nesting has failed; or
(C) the eagles have left the nesting
area;
(vi) the
department shall limit permanent development associated with forest management
activities;
(vii) the department
shall close existing roads and trails under its control to motorized use
between February 1 and August 15, if:
(A)
vegetative screening from the nest is insufficient to prevent undue disturbance
and human use is high; or
(B) the
eagles' behavioral response suggests it is necessary;
(e) the department shall include
the following considerations when conducting forest management activities
within bald eagle primary use areas:
(i) limit
mechanized activities between February 1 and August 15, unless it has been
documented by a qualified biologist that:
(A)
the nest site is unoccupied during that breeding season;
(B) the eagles have fledged;
(C) nesting has failed;
(D) eagles have left the nesting
area;
(E) it has been demonstrated
that eagles show tolerance to the activity; or
(F) if allowed as specified in a
site-specific management plan;
(ii) low intensity and high intensity
activities may be allowed during this restriction period if ample visual
screening, including vegetative cover and/or topography, is present between the
affected portion of the primary use area and the active nest tree;
(iii) the department may grant exceptions for
such activities as:
(A) road repair;
(B) maintenance; and
(C) planting if following site review and
documentation, activities are deemed to:
(I)
be of short duration;
(II) be
outside of critical nesting periods; and
(III) present minimal risk to nesting adults
or offspring;
(iv) design timber harvests and salvage to
maintain structural and ecological characteristics particularly:
(A) moderate or greater stocking in
overstory;
(B) large emergent
trees;
(C) multi-storied canopy, if
present;
(D) snags;
(E) potential nest trees;
(F) perch trees;
(G) roost trees; and
(H) vegetative screening from areas of both
low and high intensity human activity;
(v) low intensity human activity may occur,
but high intensity human activity, over which the department has control, shall
not occur between February 1 and August 15, unless ample visual screening,
including vegetative cover and/or topography, is present between the primary
use area and nest tree, or it has been documented by a qualified biologist
that:
(A) the nest site is unoccupied during
that breeding season;
(B) the
eagles have fledged;
(C) nesting
has failed;
(D) eagles have left
the nesting area;
(E) it has been
demonstrated that eagles show tolerance to the activity; or
(F) otherwise allowed in a site-specific
management plan;
(vi)
minimize permanent development associated with forest management
activities;
(vii) minimize
construction of new roads, trails, and open access routes;
(f) the department shall consider
the following when conducting forest management activities within the bald
eagle home range:
(i) design timber harvests
to protect, and/or enhance, key habitat components that already exist in close
proximity to:
(A) lakes;
(B) rivers;
(C) wetlands;
(D) meadows; or
(E) known flight paths, such as:
(I) large snags;
(II) large perch trees;
(III) emergent trees; and
(IV) roost trees;
(ii) design projects involving
human activities, both low and high intensity, to minimize disturbance to
foraging and roosting eagles, and to avoid conflict in frequently used areas
during the nesting season;
(iii)
minimize construction of new roads, trails, and open access routes.
(8) BLACK-BACKED
WOODPECKER:
(a) when developing prescriptions
for harvest in areas burned within the last five years in forest patches
greater than 40 acres in size, the department will:
(i) manage at least ten percent of the burned
acreage in an unharvested condition that is broadly representative of the
entire burn (i.e., similar habitat types, fire intensity, elevations, stand
density, and stand age class prior to burn) to be determined using
site-specific information at the project level;
(ii) manage such areas in relatively
contiguous blocks favoring close proximity to unharvested fire-killed deferred
stands on neighboring ownerships considering the habitat needs of black-backed
woodpeckers; and
(iii) leave
standing sub-merchantable burned trees where soil, slope stabilization, and
human safety concerns allow.
(9) COMMON LOON:
(a) for all lakes where common loon nesting
pairs exist, the department shall:
(i) limit
construction of new permanent roads, structures, or permanent developments
within a 500-foot radius of the nest site; and
(ii) limit mechanized activity within a
500-foot radius of the nest site between April 15 and July 15;
(b) for lakes which have been
recently occupied but for which no currently nesting pair resides, the
department shall:
(i) survey lakeshores for
nesting loons prior to developing plans for lakeshore development, road
construction, or timber harvest activities that will occur within 500 feet of
the lakeshore;
(ii) prior to
finalizing plans for any new roads, developments, timber sales, or intensive
motorized activity that will occur on or near any lake potentially suitable for
use by loons, design appropriate mitigation measures specific to the situation;
and
(iii) if nesting is not
documented, identify sites for proposed projects that would least likely be
occupied by nesting loons in the future.
(10) FISHER:
(a) The department shall assess fisher
habitat on projects that contain preferred fisher cover types for lands
administered by the department's northwest land office and southwest land
office;
(b) when conducting forest
management activities, as consistent with
77-5-301 and
77-5-302,
MCA, the department shall:
(i) implement
retention measures contained in ARM
36.11.425
when managing within preferred fisher cover types associated with riparian and
streamside management zones to provide habitat and connectivity;
(A) where treatments reduce stand density
below moderately stocked levels, the department shall make efforts to provide
forest connectivity along the opposite stream bank;
(B) the department shall define a minimum of
one buffered management zone connecting to other fisher habitat through sites
where individual perennial and intermittent stream courses are difficult to
define, such as those braided with many channels;
(C) the department shall retain large snags,
snag recruits, and CWD pursuant to ARM
36.11.409
through
36.11.414,
and promote recruitment if existing abundances are below expected
levels;
(D) following large-scale
stand replacement disturbance events in preferred fisher cover types, the
department shall give consideration to maintaining an abundance of large snags
and CWD within 100 feet of class 1 streams and 50 feet of class 2
streams;
(E) when practicable, the
department shall avoid constructing new roads in preferred fisher cover types
within 100 feet of class 1 streams or 50 feet of class 2 streams, and where
feasible, the department shall incorporate use of temporary roads, and obstruct
or obliterate unnecessary existing roads;
(c) the department shall manage for at least
one 300-foot-wide forested patch providing connectivity between adjacent third
order drainages, preferably in saddles, where landscape conditions
allow;
(d) the department shall
consider importance of late-successional riparian and upland forest in meeting
the life requisites of fishers.
(11) FLAMMULATED OWL:
(a) when harvesting timber where greater than
50 contiguous acres of flammulated owl preferred habitat types exist, the
department shall:
(i) favor seral ponderosa
pine on sites where historical fire regimes favor it;
(ii) favor older-aged ponderosa pine or,
secondarily, Douglas-fir for retention or recruitment on warm, dry
slopes;
(iii) retain and recruit
large-sized snags pursuant to ARM
36.11.404;
(iv) open up dense stands on warm, dry slopes
towards a basal area of 35 to 80 square feet;
(v) promote non-uniform stands and retain
occasional dense patches of conifer regeneration and shrubs.
(12) PEREGRINE FALCON:
(a) the department shall manage for peregrine
falcons within a 0.25 mile radius of a known nest site, and develop appropriate
silvicultural mitigation measures for the particular situation;
(b) the department shall limit human
activity, both low and high intensity, and mechanized activity typically within
a 0.5 mile radius from known nest sites between March 1 and August 1;
and
(c) the department shall
determine distances for activity restrictions on a site-specific basis for
aerial operations.
(13)
PILEATED WOODPECKER:
(a) the department shall
manage stands containing pileated woodpecker preferred habitat in larger,
rather than smaller blocks, whenever practicable;
(i) where large contiguous tracts of such
stands are unavailable, the department shall consider management of smaller
stands in close proximity to one another, or close to similar stands on
adjacent ownerships;
(ii) the
department shall consider areas of pileated woodpecker preferred habitat of
less than 40 acres, unless they are close to other appropriate
stands;
(iii) within pileated
woodpecker preferred habitat, the department shall manage for snags, snag
recruits, and CWD according to ARM
36.11.411,
36.11.413,
and 36.11.414, particularly favoring retention of western larch, ponderosa
pine, and black cottonwood, considering amounts that would historically occur
on similar sites;
(A) the department shall
consider broken-top snags greater than 20 feet tall priority candidates for
retention;
(iv) where
appropriate, the department shall manage to encourage retention of black
cottonwood, particularly where it can attain large size.
AUTH:
77-1-202,
77-1-209,
77-5-201,
77-5-204,
MCA; IMP:
77-5-116,
77-5-204,
77-5-206,
77-5-207,
MCA.
