GeomorphIS Team Awarded USFS OWNF Bighorn Sheep EIS Support Project
The USDA Forest Service (USFS) awarded the GeomorphIS team (includes Harris Environmental, Confluence, and Hamer Environmental) a Land Managment Integrated Resources (LMIR) BPA task order to provide NEPA support to the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest (OWNF). The OWNF is proposing forest plan amendments and allotment-specific analysis to reduce the risk of disease transmission from domestic sheep and goats grazing on National Forest System lands to bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). The proposed forest plan amendments will make suitability determinations for domestic livestock grazing on allotments on lands covered by the Okanogan Forest Plan and the Wenatchee Forest Plan and add guidelines to both forest plans regarding the management of domestic sheep and goats. Both the forest plan suitability determinations and the guidelines are intended to reduce the risk of disease transmission from domestic sheep and goats to bighorn sheep on or near National Forest System lands managed by the OWNF. The GeomorphIS team will provide specialized input regarding wildlife, fisheries, and heritage as part of the OWNF project Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).