Blackfoot Swan Landscape Restoration Project (BSLRP)

In This Edition: For the greater good. New Direction From the Regional Forester Blackfoot Swan Landscape Restoration Project Mid Swan Interview with Joe Fortier, Photo Interpretation Lead New Team Members

Project Contact Sandy Mack Phone: 406-329-3817 E-mail: [email protected] BSLRP Webpage

USDA Forest Service

April 2017 Hello and Happy Summer Solstice!

We have been completing staff work and are, at last, ready and aligned for intensive working sessions with interested parties in May. I’d like to share some activities since SWCC Line Officers: our last, September 2016, newsletter including two major Line Officers’ decisions. A few Flathead National Forest: of these items are highlighted in this update. Chip Weber, Rich Kehr September 2016 Lolo National Forest:  Line Officers’ Decision to adopt and adapt the photo interpretation approach used Timothy Garcia, Rachel Feigley on the Okanagan-Wenatchee National Forest (O-W) to address successional patches and landscape patterns, as well as compositions and structure. The Southwestern Helena-Lewis & Clark National Crown Collaborative support this decision. Forests:  Quantitative natural and future range of variability for vegetation attributes on the William Avey, Sara Mayben, Michael Stansberry BSLRP landscape completed. This analysis does not include the ecologically important landscape pattern process and function analysis.  Aquatic Focus Areas, given future temperature range predictions for the Northern Rockies Adaption Project (NRAP).  Refined Vegetation Disturbance model.

1 October  Engaged with and discussed BSLRP with the SWCC Aquatic Working Group and full SWCC at their Meetings.  Shared BSLR story to Washington Office staff during the Chief’s Region 1 Review.

November – Rangers and Core Team receive training from Okanogan -Wenatchee National Forest (O-W) Practitioners.

December – Co-sponsored, with the Southwestern Crown Collaborative, National Forest Foundation, and Northern Rocky Moun- tain Fire Science Network, a ‘sold out’ 2 day Workshop titled, From Theory to Practice: Landscape-Level Restoration Principles. 10 speakers addressed participants from 8 National Forests, two Regions, 7 Non-government organizations, 2 Businesses, and 2 Fed- eral and one state agency.

January 2017 “Look deep into nature and  Partnered with the Montana Natural Heritage Program to use their photo interpretation then you will understand expertise to complete delineations and assigning biodiversity attributes to aerial photos. everything better.”  Exchanged BSLRP concepts with SWCC. Albert Einstein February  Gave the Swan Lake, Seeley Lake and Lincoln Ranger Districts an interactive training on our assessment approach .  A Multi-partner Grant Proposal submitted to the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative for increasing partner capacity and helping implement our successional patch and pattern large-landscape assessment approach.  Montana Natural Heritage Program photo interpreters trained by practitioners from the O-W. March  Aerial flights completed and last photos delivered. Photo delineation and attribution starts.  Line Officers’ Decision – Break 1.3 million acres up into 3-5 decisions using photo interpretation for successional landscape patterns, as well as compositions and structure with the first decision encompassing approximately 250,000 acres within the Swan Lake Ranger District by October 2019.  Four team vacancies filled and full Core Team membership in place. USFWS Partner Consultation Biologist Vacant.  BSLRP Strategic Management Plan V1.0 ready for signature. Will be updated, improved quarterly.

Along with the SWCC and contributing partners we continue to learn as we develop our understandings and adaptations of this process. I’m very excited to work with our new team members and interested parties to complete the assessment phase and move into the National Environmental Policy Act Process, collaboratively, professionally and with urgency.

Sandy Mack Team Lead

NEW DIRECTION FROM THE REGIONAL FORESTER

After gathering input from staff, collaborators, and contributing partners, on March 3, 2017, Regional Forester Leanne Martin gave the BSLRP Team new direction to complete one Record of Decision (ROD) for the highest priority area within the Southwestern Crown landscape by the end of fiscal year 2019. The remainder of the BSLRP area will be completed in an additional 3-4 ROD’s by 2023. The team used a prioritization tool based on biophysical, value and risk elements using existing R1 data . This will allow us to apply our assessment and NEPA management approach to our first area and use what we learn for the remainder of the BSLRP area.

2 BLACKFOOT SWAN LANDSCAPE RESTORATION PROJECT MID SWAN BACK TO MAIN PAGE

The first project will be called the Blackfoot Swan Landscape Restoration Project Mid Swan (hereafter referred to as BSLRP Mid Swan). The BSLRP Mid Swan analysis area will focus on the following 14 watersheds: Lost Creek, Metcalf Lake, Soup Creek, Woodward Creek, Goat Creek, Cedar Creek, Van Lake, Lion Creek, Piper Creek, Jim Creek, Pony Creek, Cold Creek, Condon Creek, and Elk Creek (see map on Page 4). The project will analyze approximately 250,000 acres of lands within the Swan Lake Ranger District on the Flathead National Forest. The project purpose will remain to reduce the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire and conserve terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity across the Southwestern Crown Collaborative landscape, taking into account the potential influence of climate change. The following is the timeline for the BSLRP Mid Swan Project:

“Conservation is the foresighted utilization, preservation and/or renewal of forests, water, lands and minerals, for the greatest good of the greatest number for the longest time.” Gifford Pinchot

3 Map of the Blackfoot Swan Landscape Restoration Project Mid Swan Project Area:

4 MEET JOE FORTIER, PHOTO INTERPRETATION LEAD BACK TO MAIN PAGE

Interview with Joe Fortier Photo Interpretation Lead, Montana Natural Heritage Program

What’s your background? Hobbies? Interests? I’m originally from Maine. I received my Undergraduate Degree in Geography and a Masters in Geographic Information Science from Clark University in Worcester, MA. After school I did some remote sensing work in Kenya for the African Conservation Centre, then moved to Washington DC where I worked as a Remote Sensing Crop Analyst for the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service. Having always wanted to see the Rockies, in 2012 I packed my car and moved to North Idaho where I apprenticed at two small, organic farms over the course of a year. As far as hobbies, I love everything outdoors; in the winter I’m an avid bread baker.

How did you start working with the Montana Natural Heritage Program? After my farm apprenticeships in Idaho, I began looking for a job in the GIS/remote sensing field that could keep me in the northwest. I was fortunate to find a position with the Montana Natural Heritage Program in 2013 as part of their statewide effort to map Montana’s wetlands. I’ve since taken on a multiple of other roles through them, including whitebark pine abundance mapping for a number of National Forests across Montana and Idaho. Do you have past experience in the Swan, Clearwater, Blackfoot landscape – and what type. As part of my position at MTNHP I worked on a number of wetland field assessments looking at fens and riparian networks from the Swan River to Copper Creek. Not to mention my own personal time hiking and backpacking the area, particularly in the Swan range. What’s your interest, if any, in “landscape management” versus management at a smaller scale? I haven’t truly engaged in a landscape management project before. Thinking about it from the science side of things there is a lot to be said about the ability, in smaller scale management, to focus on the unique needs of the local environment, which tend to get lost as you scale up. But I also see the benefit to landscape scale management and partnership with other land managers and stakeholders in an area, which can greatly strengthen the federal government’s position to implement change. I understand the BSLRP it’s trying to find a happy medium between both: perform a landscape scale analysis to identify broad landscape patterns and departures bringing in the knowledge of local partners and scientists early to make a more pointed proposed action for implementation. How is the Photo interpretation work going for you? Any Challenges and/or Successes? It’s going well, it has been an interesting and unique experience. My previous photo interpretation experience has been based on 2D NAIP imagery but working in the 3D environment is a vastly different experience. It adds a level of information to the imagery, beyond spectral response, that’s been a huge asset to forest classification. The initial challenge was preparing for the PI work before we had access to the imagery or the exact methods we’re meant to follow. After our training and a month into the work, I think our whole team is feeling pretty comfortable with the process and our ability to make informed calls. We’re a close group so frequent conferences are called to help with the tougher decisions or make use of the various expertise each one of us brings to the table. We will be checking our calls in the field soon. Have you had and surprises or “ah ha” moments to date in this work? Coming into this with my experience both photo interpreting of wetlands and past attempts at species level mapping using remote sensing techniques I was definitely skeptical about picking out forest structure and tree species from the imagery with any degree ofac curacy. But as always I’m amazed by the human brain’s ability to identify patterns in complex environments, the 3D imagery makes a lot more possible than I expected.

5 NEW TEAM MEMBERS BACK TO MAIN PAGE

The following team members join Sandy Mack (Team Leader), Wade Sims (Aquatics Ecologist), and Chip Fisher (GIS Analyst):

Don Long, Fire Ecologist Donald Long is a Fire Ecologist at the Fire Sciences Laboratory of the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, MT. He works for the Fire Modeling Institute within the Fire, Fuels, and Smoke Program. He earned a B.S. degree in forest science from the University of Montana in 1981 and completed a master of science in forest resources at the University of Idaho in 1998. Don began his work at the Fire Sciences Laboratory in 1994. He started working with the LANDFIRE Project in 2004 and is currently the Forest Service Science Lead for the LANDFIRE project.

Craig Thompson, Wildlife Ecologist Craig Thompson has been a wildlife biologist with the US Forest Service since 2006. He received a master’s degree in landscape ecology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a PhD in wildlife ecology from Utah State University. He has worked with a variety of carnivore species across the western US, including black-footed ferrets, swift foxes, island foxes, fishers, and mountain lions. Prior to joining the Blackfoot-Swan project, he spent 10 years as a wildlife researcher with the USFS Pacific Southwest Research Station studying the impacts of management on forest carnivores in the Sierra Nevada region. Past research has covered topics such as bald eagle response to landscape heterogeneity, the impacts of military training on grassland predators, and the effects of illegal marijuana cultivation and associated pesticides on sensitive carnivores. Currently he holds a joint position with the USFS and the Conservation Biology Institute, a non-profit conservation research and planning organization, where he specializes in reconciling wildlife habitat conservation with landscape-scale forest restoration. He is also a certified tree climbing instructor for the Forest Service, and outside of work enjoys skiing, building tree houses, and struggling with old cars. Craig currently resides in Frenchtown with his wife Michelle and 4 children. Sabine-Mellmann Brown, Vegetation Ecologist Sabine Mellmann-Brown is joining our team as the vegetation ecologist. She is returning to Montana from Oregon’s eastside where she served as area ecologist for eight years. In that capacity she provided science transfer and assistance to three National Forests regarding forest, rangeland and riparian ecosystem management. Sabine was born and raised in Germany and received her education at the University of Münster. While doing an internship with the California Energy Commission she fell in love with north American landscapes and returned to complete research on Sierra Nevada forests and study whitebark pine regeneration in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. As postdoctoral researcher at Montana State University, Sabine worked on the effects of Jackson Lake Dam on riparian vegetation in Teton National Park and led a portion of a Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory for the Custer National Forest. Sabine enjoys most things outdoors and is excited to be back in Montana. She is looking forward to exploring the mountains around Missoula on foot and on skis with her family and her young and mischievous dog, Lucy. Tami MacKenzie, Program Specialist Tami MacKenzie is a Writer/Editor for the Flathead National Forest. She has been working in NEPA for the past ten years as both Writer/Editor and Planning Team Leader. Tami started her career in 1998 as a temporary firefighter while attending the University of Montana. Upon completion of school she moved home to the Flathead Valley where she lives with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys many activities our National Forests have to offer such as hiking, mountain biking, cross country skiing, and fishing. Tami will be temporarily filling in on the BSLRP Team until the Program Specialist position can be filled permanently.