Wetland Conservation Strategy for the Middle and Western Snake River and Lower Reaches of Its Major Tributaries Including the Boise River and Payette River
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WETLAND CONSERVATION STRATEGY FOR THE MIDDLE AND WESTERN SNAKE RIVER AND LOWER REACHES OF ITS MAJOR TRIBUTARIES INCLUDING THE BOISE RIVER AND PAYETTE RIVER Prepared by Mabel Jankovsky-Jones Idaho Conservation Data Center Novermber 2001 Idaho Department of Fish and Game Natural Resource Policy Bureau 600 South Walnut, P.O. Box 25 Boise, ID 83707 Report prepared with funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency through Section 104(b) (3) of the Clean Water Act Grant No. CD 980102-01-0 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... i LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................ii LIST OF FIGURES...........................................................................................................ii LIST OF APPENDICES....................................................................................................ii SUMMARY......................................................................................................................iv INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 SURVEY AREA ............................................................................................................... 2 METHODS ...................................................................................................................... 3 FIELD METHODS............................................................................................................................3 Reference Areas and Sample Sites....................................................................................3 Field Data Collection...........................................................................................................3 OFFICE METHODS.........................................................................................................................4 National Wetlands Inventory ...............................................................................................4 Wetland Plant Associations.................................................................................................4 Site and Community Data Bases........................................................................................5 Site Ranking........................................................................................................................6 RESULTS........................................................................................................................ 8 WETLAND ACREAGE AND TYPES................................................................................................8 WETLAND OWNERSHIP AND PROTECTION STATUS ................................................................................... 11 WETLAND CONDITION ...................................................................................................................... 15 Wetland Losses.................................................................................................................12 Functional Shifts................................................................................................................13 WETLAND DIVERSITY .................................................................................................................15 Wetland Plant Associations...............................................................................................15 Rare Flora ..................................................................................................................................17 Rare Animals.....................................................................................................................18 CONSERVATION PRIORITIES FOR WETLANDS........................................................................19 Class I Sites ......................................................................................................................20 Class II Sites .....................................................................................................................20 Reference Sites ................................................................................................................21 Habitat Sites......................................................................................................................21 Other Sites and Priorities for Conservation ......................................................................22 How This Information Can be Used..................................................................................22 HOW TO REQUEST ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...................................................... 27 LITERATURE CITED .................................................................................................... 28 i LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Definition of wetland and deepwater habitat systems (Cowardin et al. 1979). ................................................................................................................... 4 Table 2. Definitions and indicators of criteria for allocating wetland sites into management categories. ...................................................................................... 6 Table 3. Acres of wetland and deepwater habitat and management status................... 12 Table 4. Plant communities and ranks in the middle Snake River wetlands arranged by Cowardin system, class and subclass. ........................................... 16 Table 5. Plant species of special concern in the survey area, conservation rank, and Idaho Native Plant Society (INPS) category. ............................................... 18 Table 7. Wetland sites along the middle and western Snake, lower Boise, and lower Payette Rivers ...... 30 Table 8. Accessing wetlands related data housed at Idaho Department of Fish and Game........................................................................................................... 27 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location of wetland and deepwater habitat for digitized maps in the survey area by system.......................................................................................... 8 Figure 2. Acreage of wetland and deepwater habitat in Hydrologic Unit 17040212 (Upper Snake) .......... 11 Figure 3. Acreage of wetland and deepwater habitat in Hydrologic Unit 17050101 (C. J. Strike Reservoir) .................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 4. Acreage of wetland and deepwater habitat in Hydrologic Unit 17050103 (Middle Snake) .........12 Figure 5. Acreage of wetland and deepwater habitat in Hydrologic Unit 17050115 (Middle Snake-Payette) ....................................................................................................................................................................12 Figure 6. Acreage of wetland and deepwater habitat in Hydrologic Unit 17050114 (Lower Boise)............13 Figure 7. Acreage of wetland and deepwater habitat in Hydrologic Unit 17050122 (Payette) ...................13 Figure 8. Landownership of wetlands in the project area ...........................................................................14 Figure 9. Location of wetland sites in the survey area................................................... 24 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A.Key to wetland and riparian plant associations along the middle and western Snake River and lower reaches of its major tributaries...................................A-1 Appendix B. Characterization abstracts for selected plant associations in the survey area......... B-1 Appendix C. Taxonomy, range, status, and management of rare wetland and riparian plant species along the middle and western Snake River and its major tributaries. .... C-1 Appendix D. Taxonomy, range, status, and management of animal species of special concern along the middle and western Snake River and its major tributaries ............. D-1 Appendix E. Site summaries for wetlands along the middle and western Snake River and its major tributaries....................................................................................................................................................E-1 ii Appendix F. Acres of wetland and deepwater habitat for digitized maps by Hydrologic Unit................................... Appendix G. Guidelines for assigning element (species and plant association) ranks ............................ G-1 Appendix H. Idaho Conservation Data Center site and community survey forms.................................... H-1 iii SUMMARY The Idaho Conservation Data Center has received wetland protection grant funding from the Environmental Protection Agency under the authority of Section 104 (b)(3) of the Clean Water Act to enhance existing wetland information systems. The goal is to identify the following: 1) Where are the wetlands? 2) What is the condition and management status of wetlands? 3) What kind of wetlands are they? This information can then be applied to state biodiversity, conservation, and water quality enhancement projects on a watershed basis. This builds on previous inventories in the state to create a consistent source of wetland information. Previous project areas included the Henrys Fork Basin, Big Wood River Basin, southeastern Idaho watersheds, the Idaho Panhandle, east-central basins,