Harney Basin Wetlands
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Harney Basin Wetlands Operational Context Initiative Partners Juntura This Initiative has local, regional and international significance for the conservation of wetland dependent fish and wildlife species. It is an Harney Basin Wetlands Initiative Focused Investment important part of efforts to manage and conserve the Southern Oregon-Northeastern California wetland complex with an even broader continental significance for migratory birds of the Pacific VISION and Central Flyways. GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE The Strategic Action Plan is focused on goals, objectives, and actions The Harney Basin Wetlands Initiative PARTNERSHIP MEMBERS The Harney Basin Wetlands Initiative focus the Partnership will strive to accomplish within the six-year time frame area encompasses Malheur Lake and adjacent of the FIP funding program. The Strategic Action Plan represents an effort Partners’ vision is to conserve and enhance Initiative Coordination / Cooperation: wetlands, the tributary floodplain wetlands of to integrate the most immediate objectives and actions from three the health of Malheur Lake by managing • High Desert Partnership the Silvies River, the Donner und Blitzen River, existing plans that most directly address the goals of the Initiative Silver Creek and associated tributaries that drain (Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Plan, the Con- in harmony with ecological forces in col- • Harney County Court into Malheur and Harney Lakes. The focus area servation Implementation Strategy for Harney Basin Aquatic Health laboration with our neighbors, partners, • Harney Soil and Water Conservation District contains 513,000 wetland acres that includes the Improvement, and the Conservation Implementation Strategy for and friends and to learn from our efforts, • Harney County Watershed Council 187,000-acre Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Working Lands Waterbird Habitat Conservation in the SONEC Region). successes and failures. The surrounding • Private landowners flood irrigated wet meadows are managed • Burns Paiute Tribe Figure 1: Operational context of the OWEB-funded Focused Investment Partnership Initiative using science-based management practices • Universities that are common to public and private Implementing Partners – Malheur Lake: Intercontinental: Pacific and Central Flyways lands. There is a cooperative relationship US: Southern Oregon-Northeastern California (SONEC) wetland complex between local ranching families and the • Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Strategic Action Plan (outcomes, goals objectives and actions for 2016-2022 – focus on 513,000 wetland acres) Malheur National Wildlife Refuge staff • Ducks Unlimited Progress Monitoring Framework working to build understanding of how to • Natural Resources Conservation Service FIP Scope of Work: (2016-2022 actions on 513,000 wetland acres) FIP manage the flood irrigated wet meadows in • Friends of Malheur Refuge MONITORING Aquatic a manner that reduces carp reintroduction, • Oregon Wildlife Habitats for provides food for migrating waterbirds, and • Portland Audubon Society Native Fish Species Intermediate Intermediate provides a sustainable economic return for & Implementing Partners – Strategies Implementation Ecological Ecological Oregon ranching families. Floodplain Wet Meadow / Pasture: and Actions Results Results Results NEAR TERM LONG TERM Closed • The Wetlands Conservancy Lake Basin Wetlands ECOLOGICAL PRIORITY FIP PARTNERS • Natural Resources Conservation Service Habitat Oregon Closed Lakes Basin Wetlands Habitat • Intermountain West Joint Venture Aquatic Habitat for Native Fish Species • Portland Audubon Society FOCAL SPECIES • Ducks Unlimited Water and land birds that depend on wetlands • OSU Extension Service OTHER PARTNERS OR Strategies Implementation MONITORING Redband trout and other native fish species • USDA, Agricultural Research Service CONTRIBUTORS and Actions Results BY OTHERS 2 Theory of Change. SITUATION STRATEGIES 2 Manage wetlands / flood irrigated wet 3 Community and partner outreach In recent decades, the use of Malheur Lake by resident and The Strategic Action Plan contains two primary strategies in- meadows on refuge and private lands and communications migratory waterbirds, redband trout, and other native fish has tended to address the situation described above - carp control The partnership will address the limiting factors of aging The Partnership will carry out strategies and actions outlined declined dramatically with changes in the shallow lake eco- to improve water quality and the ecological health of wetlands infrastructure, changes in water management and agricul- in the 2015 Harney Basin Wetlands Initiative Communications system from a clear lake with abundant submerged aquatic and rivers, and the design and implementation of conservation tural patterns and land development by implementing the Plan to: vegetation and invertebrate fauna to a turbid lake with nearly measures to maintain the spring flooded wet meadow condi- following actions: no submergent vegetation. This change has resulted from the tions of the tributary floodplains. • contribute to advancing strategies 1 and 2; expansion of the non-native common carp population. • Assessing water table and plant community dynamics in • leverage funding; wet meadows; There is also a growing threat to spring migratory bird hab- STRATEGIES • demonstrate success; itat posed by the conversion of flood irrigation to sprinkler • Designing and constructing diversion replacement systems; • increase public and constituent understanding; and irrigation of the wet meadows in the Harney basin and the • Implementing of management practices to improve on- • change behaviors and perceptions where necessary. conversion of these working lands to development. The flood 1 Control carp populations in Malheur Lake farm water delivery and habitat values on flood-irrigated The focus of communications strategies will be on improving irrigated pastures and wet meadows are critical staging and and surrounding aquatic systems wet meadows; feeding areas for migratory birds. internal communications within the partnership and bringing This strategy includes assessments and modeling to fill • Investigating hydrology, vegetation, management scenarios, attention to external audiences with call-to-action messages APPROACH information gaps regarding carp distribution and population and bird use to evaluate and adapt restoration treatments; to support the vision and goals of the Initiative. Target audi- dynamics, identification and testing of carp control methods ences include: The results chain (Figure 2) articulates the partnership’s theo- • Outreach to third-party land trusts to recruit willing easement and locations to implement them, and continuation of ongo- ry of change by displaying the relationships between strate- holders; and • Initiative Partners and their constituents; ing carp control measures including commercial harvest and gies, implementation results, and the intermediate ecological • Harney County communities and landowners; operation of fish traps. • Establishing conservation easements on privately owned results partners predict will occur in response to strategy • the regional conservation and scientific communities; and flood-irrigated wet meadows to maintain existing land implementation that will ultimately lead to restoration of the • regional decision and policy makers, funders, and the Theory of Change. management practices and secure habitat values. FIPs ecological priorities. Life history assessments of carp will improve the partners’ interested general public. understanding regarding the distribution and behavior of carp Theory of Change. Numbered results identified in Figure 2 are those the partner- Theory of Change. and the relationship between carp density and water quality1: Improved understanding of flood irrigated wet meadow sys- ship has highlighted as part of a monitoring approach. They will As the communications plan is implemented7, the awareness tems and methods to enhance and maintain them will result allow the partnership to measure progress in both the near • This knowledge will aid in establishing target densities2 nec- and support of stakeholders, partners, and the general com- in the implementation of effective conservations actions on (e.g. six-year FIP timeframe) and long term, and to identify essary to achieve ecological outcomes and control measures munity is enhanced, resulting in their increased interest and privately owned wetlands4 that deliver ecological outcomes where key uncertainties might exist with regards to confidence to achieve those densities, and support9. This result supports successful implementation of as well as continue to support traditional haying and grazing of predicted outcomes or relationships between results. wet meadow enhancement and maintenance projects with • Implementation of control measures in targeted locations3 activities6. The partnership will provide needed assistance to private landowners and other agricultural interests. Each numbered implementation result is associated with the will result in a reduction in the spatial distribution and den- landowners to ensure these objectives are achieved5. corresponding objective in the Strategic Action Plan (Tables sity of carp; Successful implementation of the communications plan7 also Improving the ability for the water table to support emergent 1 and 2). For intermediate ecological results, objectives are supports partner awareness within the Initiative, and coor- • These results will