Wyoming Game and Fish Department Rev. 3/9/2015

Wyoming Game and Fish Department rev. 3/9/2015

Strategic Habitat Plan

Crucial Habitat Area Narrative

Region: /

Casper

Habitat Priority Area Name: /

North Black Hills

Habitat Area Type (s): / Aquatic Terrestrial Combined
Aspen/birch, riparian, wooded draw (chokecherry, hawthorne, etc.) bur oak, and ponderosa pine
Habitat Values: / The habitat values that contributed in selecting this area include mule deer crucial winter-yearlong ranges, white-tailed deer crucial winter-yearlong ranges, big game parturition areas, wild turkey seasonal habitats, and watershed hydrologic function.
Reason Selected: / This watershed provides a unique combination of habitat values, and vegetation community diversity, and wildlife species diversity.
Area Boundary Description: / The boundary is a combination of level 10 HUCs, crucial big game seasonal ranges, wild turkey seasonal ranges, and important vegetation communities.
Focal species or species assemblage(s) (limit 6):
SWAP Tier 1 species: / Wild turkey, white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, sage-grouse, sharp-tailed grouse
Bald Eagle, Burrowing Owl, Common Loon, Ferruginous Hawk, Greater Sage-grouse, Mountain Plover, Northern Goshawk, Townsend's Big-eared Bat
Solutions or actions: / Work with livestock producers and USFS personnel on modifying livestock grazing management systems that promote native perennial plant re-establishment and vigor through rest, deferment, herding, season of use, duration, and intensity (stocking rates).
Work with livestock producers and USFS personnel on modifying livestock grazing management systems that seek to improve cottonwood/willow regeneration along the various streams and rivers within the area.
Work with private landowners and USFS personnel to reduce pine encroachment, specifically ponderosa pine encroachment.
Establish woody species and long term riparian habitat management plans where natural regeneration is lost due to improper past management in riparian areas.
Work with private landowners to preserve and enhance sagebrush habitats in northeast Wyoming to conserve a remnant sage-grouse population.
Additional Information:
General land ownership and surface area: / BLM: 9,687 ac (1%),
USFS: 95,357 ac (13%),
Other Federal: 1,000 ac (0%),
State: 55,311 ac (8%),
Private: 561,524 ac (78%),
Water: 98 ac (0%),
Total area: 722,976 ac