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Home My WebLink AboutSuWa207sec10-12Alaska Resources Library & Information Services Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project Document ARLIS Uniform Cover Page Title: Small mammal species composition and habitat use, Study plan Section 10.12 : Initial study report SuWa 207 Author(s) – Personal: Author(s) – Corporate: Prepared by ABR, Inc. - Environmental Research & Services AEA-identified category, if specified: Draft initial study report AEA-identified series, if specified: Series (ARLIS-assigned report number): Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project document number 207 Existing numbers on document: Published by: [Anchorage : Alaska Energy Authority, 2014] Date published: February 2014 Published for: Alaska Energy Authority Date or date range of report: Volume and/or Part numbers: Study plan Section 10.12 Final or Draft status, as indicated: Draft Document type: Pagination: iii, 4 p. Related work(s): Pages added/changed by ARLIS: Notes: All reports in the Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project Document series include an ARLIS- produced cover page and an ARLIS-assigned number for uniformity and citability. All reports are posted online at http://www.arlis.org/resources/susitna-watana/ Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project (FERC No. 14241) Small Mammal Species Composition and Habitat Use Study Plan Section 10.12 Initial Study Report Prepared for Alaska Energy Authority Prepared by ABR, Inc.—Environmental Research & Services Fairbanks, Alaska February 2014 Draft INITIAL STUDY REPORT SMALL MAMMAL SPECIES COMPOSITION AND HABITAT USE STUDY (10.12) TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... iii 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 2. Study Objectives................................................................................................................ 1 3. Study Area ......................................................................................................................... 1 4. Methods and Variances in 2013 ....................................................................................... 2 5. Results ................................................................................................................................ 2 6. Discussion........................................................................................................................... 2 7. Completing the Study ....................................................................................................... 2 8. Literature Cited ................................................................................................................ 2 9. Figures ................................................................................................................................ 3 List of Figures Figure 3-1. Study Area for the Small Mammal Study. ................................................................... 4 Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project Alaska Energy Authority FERC Project No. 14241 Page i February 2014 Draft INITIAL STUDY REPORT SMALL MAMMAL SPECIES COMPOSITION AND HABITAT USE STUDY (10.12) LIST OF ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS, AND DEFINITIONS Abbreviation Definition AEA Alaska Energy Authority APA Alaska Power Authority CFR Code of Federal Regulations FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ILP Integrated Licensing Process ISR Initial Study Report Project Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project RSP Revised Study Plan SPD Study Plan Determination Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project Alaska Energy Authority FERC Project No. 14241 Page ii February 2014 Draft INITIAL STUDY REPORT SMALL MAMMAL SPECIES COMPOSITION AND HABITAT USE STUDY (10.12) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Small Mammal Species Composition and Habitat Use Study 10.12 Purpose The purpose of this office-based analysis is to review and synthesize available information on the occurrence and relative abundance of small mammals in the Project area by describing the species of small mammals known to occur in the Project area and their patterns of habitat use. Status This study was rescheduled for implementation during the next study season. Study Components Information on small mammals in the Project area will be compiled and synthesized from the available literature, including the extensive small mammal survey data collected in the 1980s for the Alaska Power Authority (APA) Project. Information synthesis will be used to assess the use and relative importance of wildlife habitats (see RSP Section 10.19). 2013 Variances The study was deferred until the next study season rather than being implemented primarily in 2013, as proposed in RSP Sections 10.12.6 and 10.12.10. This study will be informed by the data from the Vegetation and Wildlife Habitat Mapping Study in the Upper and Middle Susitna Basin 11.5, as described in RSP Section 10.12.4. AEA will meet the study objectives completing the entire study in one study season. Steps to Complete the Study As explained in the cover letter to this draft ISR, AEA’s plan for completing this study will be included in the final ISR filed with FERC on June 3, 2014. Highlighted Results and Achievements No results specific to this study have been obtained as of this ISR. Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project Alaska Energy Authority FERC Project No. 14241 Page iii February 2014 Draft INITIAL STUDY REPORT SMALL MAMMAL SPECIES COMPOSITION AND HABITAT USE STUDY (10.12) 1. INTRODUCTION On December 14, 2012, Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) its Revised Study Plan (RSP) for the Susitna- Watana Hydroelectric Project No. 14241 (Project), which included 58 individual study plans (AEA 2012). Section 10.12 of the RSP described the Small Mammal Species Composition and Habitat Use Study (Small Mammal Study). The study will be an office-based analysis to review and s ynthesize available information on the occurrence and relative abundance of small mammals in the Project area. The study will describe the species of small mammals known to occur in the Project area and their patterns of habitat use. RSP Section 10.12 provided goals, objectives, and proposed methods for data collection regarding small mammals. On February 1, 2013, FERC staff issued its study determination (February 1 SPD) for 44 of the 58 studies, approving 31 studies as filed and 13 with modifications. RSP Section 10.12 was one of the 31 studies approved with no modifications. Following the first study season, FERC’s regulations for the Integrated Licensing Process (ILP) require AEA to “prepare and file with the Commission an initial study report describing its overall progress in implementing the study plan and schedule and the data collected, including an explanation of any variance from the study plan and schedule.” (18 CFR 5.15(c)(1)) This Initial Study Report (ISR) on the Small Mammal Study has been prepared in accordance with FERC’s ILP regulations and details AEA’s status in implementing the study, as set forth in the FERC- approved RSP (referred to herein as the “Study Plan”). 2. STUDY OBJECTIVES The goal of the Small Mammal Study is to synthesize baseline data on small mammals in the Project area to enable habitat-based assessments of the impacts expected to occur from development of the Project. The Small Mammal Study has two specific objectives, as established in RSP Section 10.12.1: • Describe the species composition and relative abundance of small mammals in the Project area. • Describe the habitat associations of small mammals within the Project area 3. STUDY AREA As established by RSP Section 10.12.3, the study area consists of the entire Project area (Figure 3-1). Existing data on the abundance and habitat associations of small mammals from the original study for the Alaska Power Authority (APA) Susitna Hydroelectric Project (Kessel et al. 1982) will be supplemented with more recent data from other regional studies and will be applied to the wildlife habitat types mapped throughout the reservoir inundation zone, associated facilities areas, and the access road and power transmission corridors. Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project Alaska Energy Authority FERC Project No. 14241 Page 1 February 2014 Draft INITIAL STUDY REPORT SMALL MAMMAL SPECIES COMPOSITION AND HABITAT USE STUDY (10.12) 4. METHODS AND VARIANCES IN 2013 This Study Plan was not implemented in 2013, as was proposed in RSP Sections 10.12.6 and 10.12.10. Deferring the entire study to the next study season is a variance. AEA will meet Study Plan objectives by completing the study in the next study season. Deferral of this study until the next study season also will benefit from having contemporaneous data from the Vegetation and Wildlife Habitat Mapping Study in the Upper and Middle Susitna Basin (Study 11.5) (“Vegetation Mapping Study”) available at the time this study is completed. 5. RESULTS There are no results to report for this study. 6. DISCUSSION As described in RSP Section 10.12.7, this study will use information from the Vegetation Mapping Study. Because the Vegetation Mapping Study is ongoing and not yet complete, this study has been deferred until the next study season. In addition, this study is one of several studies that will be used in the habitat rankings prepared by the Evaluation of Wildlife Habitat Use (Study 10.19). The other studies (including the Vegetation Mapping Study (Study 11.5) and Terrestrial Furbearer Abundance and Habitat Use (Study 10.10) are ongoing and are unaffected by the deferral of this study in 2013. 7. COMPLETING THE STUDY [As explained in the cover letter to this draft ISR, AEA’s plan for completing this study will be included in the final ISR filed with FERC on June 3, 2014.] 8. LITERATURE CITED AEA (Alaska Energy Authority). 2012. Revised Study Plan: Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project FERC Project No. 14241. December 2012. Prepared for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by the Alaska Energy Authority, Anchorage, Alaska. Available online: http://www.susitna-watanahydro.org/study-plan. Kessel, B., S. O. MacDonald, D. D. Gibson, B. A. Cooper, and B. A. Anderson. 1982. Susitna Hydroelectric Project environmental studies, Phase I final report—Subtask 7.11: Birds and non-game mammals. Report by University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, and Terrestrial Environmental Specialists, Inc., Phoenix, NY for Alaska Power Authority, Anchorage. 149 pp. Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project Alaska Energy Authority FERC Project No. 14241 Page 2 February 2014 Draft INITIAL STUDY REPORT SMALL MAMMAL SPECIES COMPOSITION AND HABITAT USE STUDY (10.12) 9. FIGURES Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project Alaska Energy Authority FERC Project No. 14241 Page 3 February 2014 Draft INITIAL STUDY REPORT SMALL MAMMAL SPECIES COMPOSITION AND HABITAT USE STUDY (10.12) Figure 3-1. Study Area for the Small Mammal Study. Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project Alaska Energy Authority FERC Project No. 14241 Page 4 February 2014 Draft