Publication Type:
UnpublishedSource:
Bio West, Inc., Logan, p.32p. + appendixes (2020)Call Number:
U20TAY01IDUSKeywords:
(Spiranthes diluvialus), highway, Idaho Transportation Department, population, riparian, Route 20, species of concern, survey, Ute ladies’-tressesAbstract:
The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) is proposing improvements to US Route 20
(US-20) between Chester and Ashton, Idaho. In order to assist ITD with environmental
compliance requirements, BIO-WEST conducted a survey for Ute ladies’-tresses
(Spiranthes diluvialus) adjacent to US-20 in August 2018, as summarized in my letter of
March 29, 2019. The 2018 survey was conducted within a survey area approved by ITD
that extended approximately 500 feet from the highway centerline to the west side of the
highway and approximately 100 feet from the centerline on the east side of the highway,
between mileposts 352.75 to 363.37. No Ute ladies’-tresses individuals or populations were
found during the 2018 survey. However, suitable habitat areas were identified and mapped.
Following the 2018 field survey, ITD identified some additional survey areas and also
changed the extent of the project corridor to mileposts 350.90 to 360.55. The purpose of
this letter is to provide the results of the 2019 Ute ladies’-tresses survey.
The project corridor, inclusive of areas surveyed in 2018 and 2019, crosses several areas
mapped as wetlands according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), National
Wetlands Inventory (NWI). These areas may be considered waters of the United States
under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The USFWS includes jurisdictional wetlands as
areas of potentially suitable habitat for Ute ladies’-tresses. Therefore, the project corridor
was surveyed for Ute ladies’-tresses, and potential wetland areas within the project corridor
were evaluated as suitable or unsuitable for Ute ladies’-tresses.
The project area for the 2019 Ute ladies’-tresses survey consists of three distinct survey
areas that extended away from the highway centerline. The survey areas are identified on
Figure 1 of Appendix A and comprise approximately 2,883 acres within Sections 3, 9, 10,
15, 16, and 19 of Township 8 North, Range 42 East, and Sections 24, 25, 26, and 17 of
Township 8 North, Range 41 East. Areas along the US-20 corridor between the survey
areas, where no suitable habitat had been identified during the 2018 survey were excluded
from the 2019 survey areas. Areas surveyed in 2018 between mileposts 360.55 and 363.37
were not revisited in 2019 because ITD had subsequently excluded that portion of the
project corridor from the desired survey areas.
Notes:
Shelf Note: Electronic Files - BOTONY: Multiple Species: U20TAY01IDUS
Taylor 2020. Letter to Tim Cramer of the Idaho Transportation Department regarding the population survey of Ute ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialus) adjacent to U.S. Route 20.