Wildlife Impact Assessment Palisades Project, Idaho, Final Report.

• Main Author: Sather-Blair, Signe
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: 13 HYDRO ENERGY; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS; BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS; DEER; DUCKS; GEESE; HABITAT; IDAHO; WILD ANIMALS; ANIMALS; BIRDS; FEDERAL REGION X; FOWL; MAMMALS; NORTH AMERICA; POWER PLANTS; RUMINANTS; USA; VERTEBRATES; Canada; South Fork; Palisades; Canada Goose; osprey
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/5452604; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5452604; https://doi.org/10.2172/5452604

The Habitat Evaluation Procedures were used to evaluate pre- and post-construction habitat conditions of the US Bureau of Reclamation's Palisades Project in eastern Idaho. Eight evaluation species were selected with losses expressed in the number of Habitat Units (HU's). One HU is equivalent to one acre of prime habitat. The evaluation estimated that a loss of 2454 HU's of mule deer habitat, 2276 HU's of mink habitat, 2622 HU's of mallard habitat, 805 HU's of Canada goose habitat, 2331 HU's of ruffed grouse habitat, 5941 and 18,565 HU's for breeding and wintering bald eagles, and 1336 and 704 HU's for forested and scrub-shrub wetland nongame species occurred as a result of the project. The study area currently has 29 active osprey nests located around the reservoir and the mudflats probably provide more feeding habitat for migratory shore birds and waterfowl than was previously available along the river. A comparison of flow conditions on the South Fork of the Snake River below the dam between pre- and post-construction periods also could not substantiate claims that water releases from the dam were causing more Canada goose nest losses than flow in the river prior to construction. 41 refs., 16 figs., 9 tabs.