Big Sky Elk Ranch Game Farm expansion : draft environmental assessment

64 Pages·1999·2.9 MB·English

by  Montana. Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. Region 4

636.294
F2bser MONTANASTATELIBRARY
1999
308640014 45900
DRAFT
ENVIRONMENTAL
ASSESSMENT
BIG SKY ELK RANCH
GAME FARM EXPANSION
STATEDOCUMENTSCOLLECTION
1999
MONTANASTATELIBRARY
JULY1999 HELEN15A1,5MEO.N6TtAhNAAVE5.9620
r
/a
* swL»
MontanaFish, Wildlife&Parks
Region4
4600GiantSpringsRoad
GreatFalls,Montana59406
I
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION ^
OBJECTIVES ’’
PUBLICPARTICIPATION
PROPOSEDACTIONANDALTERNATIVES CN
PURPOSEANDNEEDOFTHEPROPOSEDACTION CNJ
ROLEOFFWPANDDOL
AFFECTEDENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENTALCONSEQUENCES
EACONCLUSION ’
STIPULATIONSANDMITIGATIONMEASURES ....
PARTI. GAMEFARMLICENSEAPPLICATIONINFORMATION
PARTII.EAEDNEVFIIRNOINTIMOENNSTALREVIEW 18
PHYSICALENVIRONMENT 18
Land ” 19
AWiarter | 2213
Vegetation 27
HUMFAiNshEaNndVIWiRlOdlNifMeENT 30
NoiseEffects 34
LandUse 35
Risk/HealthHazards 37
CommunityImpact 41
PublicServices/Taxes 43
Aesthetics/Recreation 45
CulturalandHistoricalResources 46
SUMSMuAmRmYarEyVALUATIONOFSIGNIFICANCE 4487
PARTIII. NARRATIVEEVALUATIONANDCOMMENT
PART IV. EACONCLUSION
FIGURES
FFIIGGUURREE21 BBiiggSSkkyyGGaammeeFFaarrmmSMiatpeMSahopwingLandUse/LandCover 43
FIGURE3 BigSkyGameFarmMapShowingLandOwnership 7
APPENDICES
APPENDIXA PRIVATEPROPERTYASSESSMENTACTCHECKLIST
(
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
bRPEeueAlbgoliwwiioc:lnli4bnevFoaWlvvPaeimloeafnbfiltceei.nfotrChopeumbEmlAiecnptrresovcireeeswgsaaridnnidcnlgucdotehmsimsseEtneAtpssfhrtoooumliddJeunblteiyfys6,uabn1md9it9at9deddunrtteiolssF5WppuPbmlaiJtcutlchyoen2cl7eo,cran1ts9i.o9n9TsfhpreeocmiDfritaehfdet
Mr.MikeAderhold,RegionalSupervisor
Fish,Wildlife&Parks,Region4
4600GiantSpringsRoad
GreatFalls,Montana 59406
Phone:[phone]
PROPOSEDACTIONANDALTERNATIVES
PROPOSEDACTION
aFnWePlkregcaemiveedfaarnmi(nii.tei.a,laalptpelrincaattiivoenldiavteestdocMka)rcinhF2e2r,gu1s99C9oufnrtoym,ChMaornlteasnaR..aFndWPPhyalclcisepAt.edTatyhleoraptopleicxaptainodn
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townofMoore(Figures1and2),andapproximately15mileswestofLewistown. Theexistinggamefarm,
locatedimmediatelyeastoftheproposedexpansionarea(Figure1),consistsof260acresandislicensed
(no.413)forupto350elk. Withrespecttotheexistinggamefarm,thefirstphaseconsistingofupto60
elkon44acreswasapprovedinOctober1997. Subsequently,a216-acreexpansionforupto350elk
(ontotalof260acres)wasapprovedinFebruary1998. Thegamefarmapplicants(Taylor)livenearthe
townofMoore. Iftheproposedexpansionisapproved,thetotaladjoininggamefarmwouldconsistofup
to600elkon561acres.
Purposesoftheproposedgamefarminclude: breedingstock,meatandantlerproduction,andtocull
maturebullelkforprofitthroughcontrolledshootingbyclientswhodesiretrophyelk. Elkreleasedinto
theproposedgamefarmwouldcomefromtheexistingBigSkyGamefarmandfromotherlicensedgame
farms.
Thetwoperimeterfencegatesfortheexpansionarea(Figure1)wouldremainlatchedorlocked,except
forwhengamefarmanimalsaremovedintooroutoftheenclosure,atwhichtimethegateswouldbe
monitoredtopreventingress/egress. Twoadditionalinternalgateswouldconnecttheexistinggamefarm
enclosurewith theproposed area(Figure 1). Wild animalswould beremovedfromthegamefarm
enclosurepriortoissuanceofthelicensebyFWPandMontanaDepartmentofLivestock(DoL).
FenceconstructionwouldbecompletedinaccordancewithrequirementsofFWPunderARM12.6.1531.
Gamefarmfencingwouldconsistof8-foothigh,high-tensile,LangleySolidlockwovenwiregamefence.
Thefencebottomsmustbeinstalledtoprovidenotmorethan3inchesofgroundclearance. Ahandling
andquarantinefacilityislocatedintheexistinggamefarmsite(Figure1)forpurposesofhandlingand
testingtheelk;thisfacilityhasbeenconstructedaccordingtoDoLstandardsandwouldbeutilizedforthe
proposedgamefarmexpansion.
PublicDraftEA(July1999) 2 BigSkyElkRanchGameFarmExpansion
SUMMARY
DRAFT ENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENT
PROPOSED BIG SKY ELK RANCH GAME FARM EXPANSION
INTRODUCTION
MontanaFish,Wildlife&Parks(FWP)isrequiredtoperformanenvironmentalanalysisinaccordancewith
theMontanaEnvironmentalPolicyAct(MEPA)foreachproposalforprojects,programs,legislation,and
othermajoractionsofstategovernmentsignificantly affecting thequalityofthehumanenvironment
(AdministrativeRulesofMontana[ARM]12.2.430). FWPusesenvironmentalassessments(EAs)inthe
gamefarmlicensingprocesstoidentifyandevaluateenvironmentalimpactsofaproposedgamefarm.
EAsalsodeterminewhethertheimpactswouldbesignificantandwhether,asaconsequence,FWPwould
performamoredetailedenvironmentalimpactstatement(EIS).
WhenpreparinganEA,FWPreviewsenvironmentalimpactsoftheProposedAction,impactsoftheNo
ActionAlternative,andimpactsofotheralternativeactionswhichincluderecommendedand/ormandatory
measures to mitigate the project’s impacts. A mitigated EA includes alternatives with enforceable
requirements(stipulations)whichreduceimpactsoftheProposedAction. TheEAmayalsorecommend
apreferredalternativefortheFWPdecisionmaker.
ThisEAispreparedfortheproposedexpansionoftheBigSkyElkRanchGameFarmlocatednearMoore
andLewistown, Montana. Baseduponitsreviewofthegamefarmapplication, FWPhasprepareda
mitigatedEA.
OBJECTIVES
ThisEAhasbeenpreparedtoservethefollowingpurposesinaccordancewithFWPMEPArules(ARM
12.2.430):
• ensurethatFWPusesnaturalandsocialsciencesinplanninganddecisionmaking;
• tobeusedinconjunctionwithotheragencyplanninganddecision-makingprocedurestomakea
determinationregardingtheProposedAction;
• assistintheevaluationofreasonablealternativesandthedevelopmentofconditions,stipulations,
andmodificationstotheProposedAction;
• determine theneedtopreparean EIS through an initial evaluation anddetermination ofthe
significanceofimpactsassociatedwiththeProposedAction;
• ensurefullestappropriateopportunityforpublicreviewandcommentontheProposedAction;and
• examine and document the effects of the Proposed Action on the quality of the human
environment.
PublicDraftEA(July1999) 1 BigSkyElkRanchGameFarmExpansion
c 3830
Residence
'^Springs
'CreekCrossing
Proposed
GameFarm
Expansion
Residence
(1/3mile)
Residence
(1/10mile)
39/0
38731
Residence ,i> V Springs
(Seasonal)
-Spring;
3970
SiteMap
ProposedGameFarmExpansion ProposedGameFarmEA
Feet 2000 ExistingGameFarm BigSkyElkRanch
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Proposed
imeFarm
Expansion
Hobson
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