Columbia National Wildlife Refuge
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Comprehensive Conservation Plan Columbia National Wildlife Refuge U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Columbia National Wildlife Refuge 64 Maple Street Columbia Burbank, WA 99323 Phone: 509/546-8300 National Wildlife Refuge Fax: 509/546-8303 E-Mail: [email protected] http://www.fws.gov/columbia Comprehensive Conservation Plan National Wildlife Refuge System Information 1 800/344 WILD September 2011 The mission of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. Western skink USFWS, Wm. Radke Cover Image: Ferruginous hawk chick September ©Tom Tietz 2011 A Desert Vision Columnar basalt pillars, lava flows and other channeled scabland formations provide the dramatic backdrop for the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge landscape, as they have for thousands of years. Intermingled with lands managed by other Federal agencies and the State of Washington, the Refuge helps to create a connected system of wildlife habitats important to migratory and resident species. A few thousand acres of lakes and wetlands, along with their adjacent uplands, attract many thousands of mallards, northern pintails, Canada geese, Sandhill cranes, and other migrating waterfowl and waterbirds to this otherwise arid environment. Long-billed curlews, Wilson’s phalaropes, black-necked stilts, and American avocets find nourishment in the refuge’s mudflats and nest in nearby grasslands. Shrub-steppe habitat on Columbia National Wildlife Refuge is healing from the scars of wildfires, invasive species, and other adverse impacts, with loggerhead shrikes, sage thrashers, sage sparrows, and other sagebrush-obligate species becoming more abundant within contiguous blocks of bunchgrass and sagebrush habitat. Badgers, burrowing owls, and Washington ground squirrels continue to thrive as they play out their ancient predator and prey relationships. The nests of prairie falcons, ferruginous hawks, canyon and rock wrens are secure—high on the refuge’s cliffs, outcroppings and talus slopes—which they share with other rocky residents including rattlesnakes, skinks, bats, marmots, and colorful lichens. Visitors come to see, feel, hear, learn about, and enjoy Washington’s high desert fish, wildlife, plant, cultural, geologic, and scenic resources. They value, respect, and care for these wild lands and share those values with others. By reaching out to neighbors and building strategic partnerships in the Mid-Columbia River Basin, Columbia National Wildlife Refuge continues to seek new and innovative ways to conserve, protect, and teach others about fish and wildlife resources. Comprehensive Conservation Plans provide long-term guidance for management decisions and set forth goals, objectives, and strategies needed to accomplish refuge purposes and identify the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s best estimates of future needs. These plans detail program planning levels that are sometimes substantially above current budget allocations and, as such, are primarily used for strategic planning and program prioritization purposes. The plans do not constitute a commitment for staffing increases, operational and maintenance increases, or funding for future land acquisition. Sandhill cranes ©Sunny Walter Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan Finding of No Significant Impact for the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan Adams and Grant Counties, Washington The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has completed a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and Environmental Assessment (EA) for Columbia National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge). The CCP will guide management of the Refuge for 15 years. The CCP/EA describes our proposals for managing the Refuge and their effects on the human environment under three alternatives, including the no action alternative. Decision Based on our comprehensive review and analysis in the CCP/EA and the comments received during the public review of the draft CCP/EA, we selected a combination of alternatives presented in the draft—primarily Alternatives 2 and 3—for implementation. This combination of management strategies from Alternatives 2 and 3 will guide management of the Refuge in a manner that: Achieves the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System, as well as the purposes, vision and goals of the Refuge. Maintains and restores the ecological integrity of the Refuge’s habitats and populations. Addresses the important issues identified during the CCP scoping process. Addresses the legal mandates of the Service and the Refuge. Is consistent with the scientific principles of sound wildlife management and endangered species recovery. Facilitates priority public uses appropriate and compatible with the Refuge’s purposes and the Refuge System mission. Summary of the Actions to be Implemented Implementing the selected alternative will have no significant impacts on the environmental resources identified in the draft CCP/EA and final CCP. Refuge management under the selected alternative will protect, maintain and enhance habitat for priority species and resources of concern and improve the Refuge’s capability to serve as an “inviolate sanctuary, or for other management purposes, for migratory birds” (Migratory Bird Conservation Act) and as a “refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife” (Public Land Order 243). Improving the Refuge’s farm fields; wetlands; lakes, streams and riparian areas; grasslands; shrub-steppe; and willow woodlands will increase the value of lands and waters for a wide variety of native fish and wildlife. The availability and quality of wildlife-dependent recreation on the Refuge will improve under the selected alternative, but within a regional context, the cumulative change will be small. Implementing the Refuge hunt programs will result in no significant, adverse cumulative population level impacts to hunted or nonhunted wildlife species. A summary of the major CCP actions we will implement follows. Under the selected alternative, the Refuge will: Finding of No Significant Impact iii Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan Supporting References U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. July 2011. Draft Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. September 2011. Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. September 2011. Comments and responses to the Draft Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment. Available by request (see note below) or for a limited time at www.fws.gov/columbia/management.html. Note: This Finding of No Significant Impact and supporting references are available for public review at Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, 735 Main Street, Othello, Washington 99344; the Mid-Columbia River National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 64 Maple Street, Burbank, Washington 99323, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Planning, Visitor Services, and Transportation, 911 NE 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232. These documents can also be found on the Internet at pacific.fws.gov/planning/ and for a limited time at www.fws.gov/columbia/management.html. Interested and affected parties are being notified of our decision. Finding of No Significant Impact v Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan Finding of No Significant Impact vi Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan Table of Contents Maps Map 1 – Location .......................................................................................................................... xi Map 2 – Land Ownership ............................................................................................................ xii Map 3 – Habitat Types, Management Units 1-5 ......................................................................... xiii Map 4 – Habitat Types, Management Unit 6 .............................................................................. xiv Map 5 – Selected Alternative, Management Unit 6 ..................................................................... xv Map 6 – Selected Alternative, Management Units 1-5 ............................................................... xvi Chapter 1. Introduction and Background ........................... 1-1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 Proposed Action ........................................................................................................................ 1-2 1.3 Purpose and Need for Action .................................................................................................... 1-2 1.4 CNWR Purposes and Establishment History ............................................................................ 1-3 1.4.1 Management Agreements .................................................................................................. 1-3 1.5 Legal and Policy Mandates ....................................................................................................... 1-4 1.5.1 National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act ......................................................... 1-4 1.5.2 National Wildlife Refuge System Mission and Goals