Biodiversity Inventory and Analysis of the Hanford Site

BIODIVERSITY INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS OF THE HANFORD SITE 1995 Annual Report P REPARED BY THE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF WASHINGTON FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERG Y JUNE 1996 BIODIVERSITY INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS OF THE HANFORD SITE 1995 Annual Report Editor Jonathan A. Soll Curt Soper Associate Editor/Designer Jan K. Lorey Contributors Kathryn Beck Florence Caplow Richard Easterly Patti A. Ensor Tony Greager Lisa A. Hallock Rob Pabst Deborah Salstrom Andrew M. Stepniewski Richard S. Zack Prepared by The Nature Conservancy of Washington in partial fulfillment of U.S. Department of Energy Grant Award Number DE-FG06-94RL 12858. Additional funding provided by The Nature Conservancy of Washington, The Bullitt Foundation, and The Northwest Fund for the Environment. NJh~-conservancy. OF WA S HINCTO/1: 217 Pine Street, Suite 1100 Seattle, WA 98101 Printed on recycled paper • CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................... vii 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background I 1.1.1 History of the Hanford Site 1 1.1.2 The Shrub-Steppe Ecosystem 1 1.1.3 Climate 2 1.1.4 Physiography 2 1.1.5 Management Areas 2 1.2 The Need for a Biodiversity Inventory 5 1.3 Ownership and Use of Data 5 1.4 Biodiversity Inventory Personnel 6 2.0 PLANT COMMUNITY ECOLOGY ................................................................... 7 2.1 Purpose and Scope 7 2.2 Methods 7 2.2.1 Site Description 7 2.2.2 Field Inventory 8 2.3 Findings 8 2.3. 1 Plant Communities 8 2.3.2 Riparian Communities JO 2.3.3 Island Upland Communities 11 2.6 Conclusions and Management Considerations 11 3.0 RARE PLANT BOTANY ................................................................................ 13 3. I Purpose and Scope 13 3.2 Methods 13 3.2.1 Pre-field 13 3.2.2 Terminology 13 3.2.3 Field Inventory 14 3.4 Results 15 3. 4.1 Overview 15 3.4.2 Two New Species and a New Variety 15 3.4.3 Endangered, Threatened, and Sensitive Plants 16 3.5 Findings and Management Considerations by Management Area 17 3.5. J Arid Lands Ecology Reserve 17 3.5.2 Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge 17 3.5.3 Wah/uke State Wildlife Recreation Area 18 3.5.4 Central Hanford 18 3.5.5 Hanford Reach 19 3.6 Noxious Weeds 19 3.7 Further Inventory Needs 20 3.8 Conclusions 21 iii CONTENTS 4.0 ORNITHOLOGY ............................................................................................ 23 4.1 Purpose and Scope 23 4.2 Methods 23 4.3 Findings 24 4.3. 1 Overview 24 4.3.2 Findings by Habitat Type 26 4.3. 3 Newly Documented Species at Hanford 28 4.4 Conclusions and Further Inventory Needs 29 5.0 ENTOMOLOGY ............................................................................................. 31 5.1 Purpose and Scope 31 5.2 Methods 31 5.2. 1 Areas Surveyed 31 5.2.2 Field Inventory 31 5.3 Findings 32 5. 3. 1 Overview 32 5. 3. 2 Findings by Insect Order 32 5.4 Further Inventory Needs 34 5.5 Conclusions and Management Considerations 35 6.0 LEPIDOPTERA ......................... :.................................................................... 37 6.1 Purpose and Scope 37 6.2 Methods 37 6.3 Findings 37 6.3. 1 Overview 37 6.3.2 Arid Lands Ecology Reserve 38 6.3.3 Central Hanford 38 6.3.4 Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge 39 6.3.5 Wahluke State Wildlife Recreation Area 39 6.4 Conclusions and Further Inventory Needs 39 6.5 Management Considerations 39 7.0 HERPETOFAUNA ......................................................................................... 41 7 .1 Purpose and Scope 41 7.2 Methods 41 7.3 Findings 42 7. 3. 1 Overview 42 7.3.2 Amphibians 42 7.3.3 Reptiles 43 7.3.4 Snakes 43 7.3.5 Turtles 44 7.4 Further Inventory Needs 44 7.5 Conclusions and Management Considerations 44 8.0 STATUS OF THE HANFORD SITE BIODIVERSITY INVENTORY ............... 45 9.0 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................. 47 10.0 REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 49 11.0 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................. 53 iv CONTENTS TABLES Page Table 1. Hanford Biodiversity Inventory: Summary of findings, 1994 XI and 1995 Table 2. Rare plant survey findings by year and management area follows i8 I I Table 3. Bird species of special concern and the habitat in which they were follows 25 I observed on the North Slope and the ALE Reserve, 1995 I' Table 4. Amphibians and reptiles of the Hanford Site, 1995 42 Table 5. Status of Biodiversity Inventory, May 1996 45 FIGURES Page Figure 1. Administrative boundaries and major land forms of the Vlll Hanford Site Figure 2. Element-occurrence wetlands and purple loosestrife populations on 9 the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, 1995 Figure 3. Location of bird species of special concern, sighted on transect 25 surveys, North Slope and ALE Reserve only, 1995 Figure 4. Habitat use by bird species of special concern and all bird species, 27 ALE Reserve and North Slope only, 1994 and 1995 COVER PHOTO Shrub-steppe habitat on the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve. Rob Pabst. V J EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction In 1992, the U.S . Department of Energy (DOE) and The Nature Conservancy of Washington entered into a memorandum of understanding that called for a cooperative and coordinated inventory of plants, animals and ecologically significant areas at the Hanford Site. In 1994, the DOE awarded The Nature Conservancy a grant to conduct the inventory. The Nature Conservancy contributed privately raised funds to support the inventory effort. Initially, the project was to be completed over a three-year period, beginning in 1994. However, budget cuts have limited the project's scope and extended the time frame. This document reports findings and analyses from inventory of plant communities, rare plants, birds, insects, amphibians and reptiles conducted from March 1994 to March 1996, but emphasizes the findings from the 1995 field season. A report detailing the findings of the 1994 field season was published in May 1995 (The Nature Conservancy 1995). Background The 560 square-mile Hanford Site has been administered by the DOE since it was acquired in 1943 by the U.S. ·Government as a national security area for producing plutonium used in nuclear weapons. The last plutonium reactor was closed in 1987, and the site is currently administered by the DOE for nuclear waste management, environmental restoration, and research and development. Most of the Hanford Site has been closed to the public since 1943 (National Park Service Study Team 1994). Administratively, the Hanford Site is divided into a number of distinct management areas: the Fitzner-Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology (ALE) Reserve; the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge and the Wahluke State Wildlife Recreation Area (the latter two areas are known, and will be referred to collectively as the North Slope); the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River; and what is referred to in this report as Central Hanford. In addition to its national and international stature in nuclear weapons and energy technology development and scientific research, the Hanford Site helps support the economy of the Tri-Cities region (Richland, Kennewick and Pasco), and has important religious and cultural significance to the Yakama, Umatilla, Wanapum and Nez Perce Indian Tribes. From a biological perspective, placing such a large tract ofland-362,000 acres-virtually off-limits to public access and development for more than 50 years has preserved the shrub-steppe ecosystem like it exists nowhere else. In essence, Hanford has become a refuge for the native species and habitats comprising the Columbia Basin shrub-steppe. The Need for a Biodiversity Inventory In order to make informed decisions about future land use, the DOE needs an accurate accounting of the species and ecosystems present on the Hanford Site. With the DOE's mission at the facility having changed from nuclear development and production to environmental cleanup and restoration, large-scale ground disturbing activities and, eventually, transfer ofland ownership are likely. vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Figure 1. Administrative boundaries and major land forms of the Hanford Site Saddle Mountains ·•·• Gable Mountain Yakima Central Hanford 5 viii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A biodiversity inventory would help determine where cleanup and development activities might be best located to minimize impacts on significant natural features . In fact, findings of the 1994 and 1995 Biodiversity Inventory are already helping the DOE address planning in the context of regional and statewide conservation values (Comprehensive Land Use Plan process). Biological studies undertaken in the past at Hanford have been primarily project- or species-specific. These studies have contributed enormously to the body of knowledge on Hanford, but have not included a comprehensive, detailed inventory of the rare species and ecosystems present on the site. Therefore, the primary objective of this inventory is to fill critical gaps in our knowledge of the biology of the Hanford Site, and to provide this information to decision-makers. This accounting will also assist the DOE in affording the proper protection and/or mitigation required under the federal Endangered Species Act, and in fulfilling requirements under numerous other state and federal law~, policies and guidelines regarding rare species and biological diversity. Results of the Biodiversity

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