Direct Displacement Clause Samples

Direct Displacement. Construction would require placement of concrete, rock, and other fill materials in habitats that currently support important resources. Bridge piers or fill placed in the littoral zone (the area between mean higher high water [MHHW] and about -20 ft MLLW) would cover and destroy existing sedentary biota that includes commercially or recreationally harvestable clams and mussels. The relative significance of this impact would depend on the nature of the substrata and habitats present, and the depth of the affected substratum. The most significant resource loss would occur where areas of eelgrass or saltmarsh and associated riparian vegetation are lost. Eelgrass beds have been located at or near several of the proposed landfall areas. Eelgrass beds are important areas of feeding and refuge for several species of fish, especially juvenile salmonids (e.g., ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al., 1997) and shellfish (e.g., Dungeness crab). Eelgrass also provides a substratum (along with kelp beds and other intertidal species of algae) for spawning by Pacific ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ are known to migrate and spawn in Tongass Narrows from late March through April (House, D., Alaska Department of Fish and Game [ADF&G], pers. comm., July 31, 2001). Along the western shoreline of Tongass Narrows, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ spawn from ▇▇▇▇ Reef west to Vallenar Point. Along the eastern banks, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ spawn from Refuge Cove west to Point ▇▇▇▇▇ and south of ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Island. Additionally, intermittent and sporadic spawning has occurred over the past 5 years on the eastern banks from near the U.S. Coast Guard station east to the town of Saxman (House, D., ADF&G, pers. comm., July 31, 2001). Areas of saltmarsh exist along the upper intertidal zone south of the airport and especially in the estuary of Government Creek. This latter habitat is particularly productive; pink and chum salmon are known to spawn in Government Creek (House, D., ADF&G, pers. comm., July 31, 2001). In the project area, Government Creek enters Tongass Narrows through a shallow gravel-cobble-bottomed stream channel in a small V-shaped embayment. The stream channel bottom is [inconsistent tenses] covered with a dense growth of filamentous ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ (Pilayella littoralis). Lower streambanks support dense rockweed (Fucus gardneri); in muddy pockets adjacent to the stream, soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria) are abundant. Finer sediments at higher elevations (e.g., > +13 ft MLLW) have a well-developed saltmarsh assemblage. Dominant plants in the lower saltm...