Deployment Area Selection and Land Withdrawal/Acquisition. M-X/MPS (M-X/Multiple Protective Shelter) Environmental Technical Report. Wildlife.

摘要

Wildlife is threatened in two parts; threatened and endangered species (protected species), and other wildlife species. Threatened and endangered species are discussed in the Technical Report on Protected Species (ETR-17). This report focuses on 'other' wildlife species. The Nevada/Utah study area, with its alternating basins and high mountain ranges, contains an array of wildlife habitat types including forests, woodlands, and shrublands. Characteristic big game species include elk, bighorn sheep, mule deer, and pronghorn. Wild horses, introduced to the area by European man, are numerous in many of the valleys and compete for forage with domestic livestock and native species. Wetland habitats in some of the valleys are important stopover areas or breeding habitats for large numbers of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. The Texas/New Mexico study area was historically a comparatively homogeneous wildlife type of shortgrass prairie spotted with playa lakes and sandhill areas and occasionally broken by the roughland of the few major river drainages in the area. Much of the Texas suitable area is now cropland which supports such game species as pheasant and bobwhite quail. Rangeland, which is intensively used for grazing, supports pronghorn. Both mule deer and white-tailed deer also occur in the area. The playa lakes are important habitat for migratory waterfowl along the Central Flyway. For this report, wildlife is broadly categorized into game and nongame animals.