Appendix B—Wildlife Design Features


under the Proposed Action


INTRODUCTION 

As described in other sections of this document, some actions 

or procedures related to wildlife are determined by existing 

policy and would be followed under both alternatives. 

General procedures related to rehabilitation after wildland 

fire, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

coordination, and monitoring would apply to both 

alternatives. These procedures are summarized below, and 

will not be discussed further in this appendix. 

•	 Rehabilitation after wildland fire: Consistent with 

Departmental Policy on Burned Area Emergency 

Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ESR), the following 

factors affecting wildlife are addressed through the ESR 

process: 

·	 Emergency Stabilization or Rehabilitation actions 

are generally undertaken to reduce risks 

significantly or to improve lands unlikely to recover 

naturally. 

·	 If natural recovery is unlikely, plantings or seedings 

may be used for stabilization, to prevent T&E or 

other Special Status Species habitat from being 

permanently impaired, or to facilitate natural 

succession of vegetative communities that were 

largely native before the fire but would be subject 

to aggressive invasion of non-native species after 

the fire. 

·	 Native species are considered preferable where 

plantings or seedings are necessary. 

•	 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

coordination: Fuels treatments will be coordinated with 

stakeholders, including private landowners and state and 

federal agencies (including those with responsibilities 

for wildlife management). 

•	 Monitoring (Refer to BLM 9214 Manual-Prescribed 

Fire Management Handbook, or 2002 Red Book, 6-11) 

will be implemented on the projects to determine the 

success of the project in meeting project objectives. Fire 

personnel monitor the immediate effects of fuels 

treatment (including first order fire effects), and 

subsequent monitoring is completed by the benefiting 

activity. 

NEW DESIGN FEATURES 

Design features are standard operating procedures or criteria 

applied to proposed projects on public lands. The following 

is a summary of design features to be considered in fire 

planning and in projects implemented through contracts or 

with government employees (under Alternative B). 

The objective of the design features is to provide guidance 

for the protection of wildlife and habitat that are not provided 

in other planning or guidance. Threatened and Endangered 

Species protection is provided by recovery or conservation 

plans and is described in other sections of this plan. These 

design criteria were developed for species or habitat not 

designated or protected under Special Status Species 

programs. 

The following design features are divided into design 

features for wildland fire and fuels project planning, and 

design features to be incorporated during wildland fire 

response or fuels project implementation. 

Alternative B Design Features for Wildland Fire 

Suppression and Rehabilitation: Features listed below 

are designed to minimize wildlife habitat loss during 

wildland fire and wildland fire suppression. 

Design features for wildland fire planning: 

•	 Appropriate resource staff, including fire specialists and 

wildlife biologists, should review Fire Management 

Plans (FMPs) annually to incorporate new wildlife 

habitat information in setting wildfire suppression 

priorities. Distribute updates to fire dispatchers for 

initial attack planning. 

•	 Avoid disturbance or degradation of designated habitats 

of concern by placement of temporary facilities (such 

as fire camps, staging areas, and helibases) and 

infrastructure. 

•	 During multiple ignition episodes ensure that priority 

wildlife habitat data are available during initial attack 

and incorporated into Wildland Fire Situation Analyses 

(WFSAs). 

Design Features for wildland fire response: 

•	 Give wildland fire suppression priority to designated 

known wildlife habitat, especially known special status 

species habitat, unless doing so would compromise 

protection of human life or property. 

•	 Use direct attack tactics when it is safe and effective at 

minimizing the amount of wildlife habitat imperiled by 

wildland fire. 

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•	 Retain unburned areas (including interior islands and 

patches between roads and fire perimeter) of wildlife 

habitat, unless doing so would compromise safety, 

resource protection, or wildfire control objectives. 

•	 Minimum Impact Suppression Tactics (MIST) (See Red 

Book for description) or light-on-the land tactics should 

be considered during fire suppression in high priority 

wildlife habitat (such as sagebrush habitats). 

Alternative B Design Features for Fuels Management: 

Design features for fuels management planning: 

•	 Cumulative effects of wildfires and vegetation 

treatments on wildlife habitat in the area should be 

considered in site-specific NEPA analyses. 

•	 Where appropriate, adopt vegetation treatments in 

wildlife habitat areas to control invasive weeds and aid 

the recovery of native vegetation. 

•	 Wildlife habitat enhancements should be included in 

fuels project design when feasible. 

•	 Fire Management Plans (FMPs) should identify crucial 

wildlife habitat needs. Where appropriate, existing 

wildlife protection measures from other programs (i.e., 

oil and gas) should be adopted. 

•	 Field Office Fire Management Plans should include 

measures to reduce or minimize impacts to migratory 

birds. 

Design Features for fuels project implementation: 

•	 Fuels projects should be designed to enhance wildlife 

species and habitat diversity in concert with fuels 

management objectives by: 

·	 Burning in a mosaic pattern to create ecotones or 

edge effect in vegetation 

·	 Using mechanical treatments to create diversity in 

burn patterns in areas where fuel type and loadings 

are contiguous 

Grassland features: 

•	 If treatment areas are dominated by exotic annual 

grasses (such as cheatgrass) projects should include 

restoration and, if necessary, reseeding to re-establish 

native vegetation. 

Forestland and woodland features: 

•	 General: Treatments should maintain snags and down 

woody debris as important habitat features. The amount 

of snags and debris should be based on apparent natural 

occurrence in the larger area surrounding fuels projects. 

•	 Aspen: Fuels treatments in aspen stands could be used 

to improve vigor, stimulate regeneration, increase 

vegetative diversity, and preserve the genetics of aspen 

clones in degraded aspen stands. 

•	 Juniper: To achieve fuels management benefits while 

minimizing impact to wildlife, treatments should focus 

on dense young juniper as opposed to mature, large 

juniper. Data from Maser and Gashwiler (1977) suggest 

that mature or old and decadent juniper stands harbored 

the most avian and mammal species. Additionally, 

Sauder (2002) found that areas with high densities of 

young juniper have the lowest abundance and diversity 

of birds. Manage ecotones to have juniper with 

prominent shrub understories to promote wildlife 

diversity. 

Shrubland features: 

•	 Sagebrush: Vegetation management strategies should 

be consistent with historical succession and disturbance 

regimes. Strategies should be based on comparison of 

historical and current ecological processes and 

landscape patterns, and should address the habitat needs 

of sage grouse and other sagebrush dependent species. 

•	 Fuels treatments in sage grouse habitats would be 

carefully analyzed, including consideration of available 

historical and current ecological processes and 

landscape patterns. Treatments should consider the 

habitat needs of migratory and non-migratory sage 

grouse populations, as determined from available 

habitat data, scientific research (such as Connelly et al 

2000), and existing management guidance. 

•	 Shrubs along riparian zones, meadows, lake beds, and 

farmlands should be maintained to provide habitat 

diversity, forage, and hiding cover for wildlife. 

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