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:(406)454-5840 PROPOSEDACTIONANDALTERNATIVES PROPOSEDACTION aFnWePlkregcaemiveedfaarnmi(nii.tei.a,laalptpelrincaattiivoenldiavteestdocMka)rcinhF2e2r,gu1s99C9oufnrtoym,ChMaornlteasnaR..aFndWPPhyalclcisepAt.edTatyhleoraptopleicxaptainodn caEalspkaccoRimatpnyl)cehotneGiaanmyaeealertF-traerorumtnodwthobeualsTidasylaoodnrds30ud1pataetocdrA2eps5r0iolfh7fe,eae1-d9ti9to9lf.eelTlakhnde(1lp5or0coaptboeusldlesda,psp5re0ocxocinomdwaste,exlpyaann3dsimo5inl0eoscfantlohvreetshBiaogtfStfkuhlyel 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 MAXIM 9731687.450 ND1oe:tr2ei4:v,e0T0do0pFoSrcgoarmlaepUhMSiacGpSsB.ase GHaantdeling&QuarantineFacility FergusCounty,FMIoGnUtRaEna1 « 1 *'•v | ,-x. J/ 'tJk Proposed imeFarm Expansion Hobson MAXIM 9731687.450 ALTNMLMFSDoecanhaaortranpendnoeilsddtm:veL.IaeUneMULnTdtsgaaTaSeIeenrFnoGvnPapdCraFEudogeolobRUgsnemlrIrsissmLEaAe9cueiqCpr0nsunrLDheeaotaaMiaBplntecFsu/1idat2PrlB:Nesea0e2Daorss0a5e.sUtt0UureuSF,SiSCre01vhDoeeBG0:eet.onu01d.Srtwr0ioSFen0vOuc,areraE0Iuodsnl0Mme0Osf UJ»|j!WGBORREPxeeetrrrisshtuaoseieslsptrdrhasoivennsAonRgRdegitaardrGinniacgagGlueema/lllUtemaaurnenrtFeddaaFnra/mCrommmEexrpcainaslion PFreoLrpagonusdsBeiUCdgosGueSnak/tmyyLe,aEFlnMFIkdoaGRnrCUatmoRnavEEcneAhar2