Appendix-Management Plan for the 4-0 Ranch Unit of the Chief

July 2019 Management Plan for the 4-0 Ranch Unit of the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area Appendix of the Blue Mountains Wildlife Areas Management Plan (2019) The mission of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is to preserve, protect and perpetuate fish, wildlife and ecosystems while providing sustainable fish and wildlife recreational and commercial opportunities. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 1111 Washington Street, SE Olympia, WA 98501 Table of Contents Plan Purpose and Use ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Property Description ............................................................................................................................................... 3 Species Management & Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 8 Management Action Timeline ............................................................................................................................... 28 References ............................................................................................................................................................. 29 Appendix A: Parcel Table with Tax Lots and Parcel Maps .................................................................................... 30 Appendix B: Species to Benefit ............................................................................................................................. 34 Appendix C: Rare Plants ....................................................................................................................................... 37 Appendix D: Grazing Management ....................................................................................................................... 38 Photo cover by Justin Haug, WDFW Photo this page by Alan L. Bauer 1 Plan Purpose and Use This Management Plan was developed for the properties on the 4-0 Ranch Unit of the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area (Figures 1 and 2), acquired in fee title (from 2014 on) with financial support from the federal Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund’s Habitat Conservation Land Acquisition grants. Accordingly, these properties, listed in Table 1, are to be managed in perpetuity for the benefit of the federally listed bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), Snake River steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and Snake River fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), as well as other state species and other target species. This Management Plan is in effect from July 2, 2019 until it is updated, replaced, or supplemented by documents approved by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). WDFW will undertake management activities herein as funding and staffing allow. If any management activities on the property result in generating revenue, the revenue will only be used for management of the property in keeping with the grant purpose. The 4-0 Ranch Unit of the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area (part of the Blue Mountains complex) was purchased in five phases, from 2012 – 2016, with Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund’s Habitat Conservation Land Acquisition (CESCF) grants and Recreation Conservation Office (RCO) – Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) funding. This plan covers lands purchased in phases 4 and 5 (see Table 1 for properties purchased from 2014 on). It is included as an appendix to the Draft Blue Mountains Wildlife Areas Management Plan (expected to be completed in spring 2019). The 4-0 Ranch Unit is 10,451 acres, in two management sections, Grouse Creek, west of Wenatchee Creek, and Mountain View, east of Wenatchee Creek. This plan covers the western portion of the property, Grouse Creek, which is 4,069 acres. Management activities conducted on the Grouse Flats will also apply to and benefit the whole 4-0 Ranch Unit, as well as other properties in the Blue Mountains Wildlife Areas. This acquisition addresses two recovery objectives for bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), from the Snake River Salmon Recovery Board (2004, 2011): 1) Protect, restore, and maintain suitable habitat conditions for bull trout, and 2) Use all available conservation programs and regulations to protect and conserve bull trout and bull trout habitats. The entire project area supported by CESCF funds includes both Grouse Creek and Mountain View, and will protect approximately 15 miles of river and creek habitat for at least nine aquatic species covered by the Washington Forest Practices Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) including federally listed bull trout (see Figure 3). In the 10-year Draft Management Plan for the Blue Mountains Wildlife Areas, the overall vision of the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area, where the project is located, is “To protect native range and forest habitats, cultural resources, and big game winter range, while offering excellent hunting opportunities and world-class fisheries on the Snake and Grande Ronde Rivers.” The overall management objective of the 4-0 Ranch Unit is the conservation of a diversity of high quality habitat types, state and federally classified fish and wildlife species, and numerous plant species. 2 Property Description The Blue Mountains Wildlife Areas is made up of three wildlife areas: Asotin Creek, Chief Joseph, and W.T. Wooten, and cover 77,177 acres in Asotin, Garfield, Columbia, and Walla Walla counties of SE Washington (Figure 1). The 4-0 Ranch unit is part of the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area, in the Snake River and Grand Ronde River watersheds. The 4-0 Ranch unit is located about 30 miles southwest of Clarkston (Figure 2). Primary access to the unit is from Highway 129, to the Grande Ronde Road, to Grouse Creek Road. The unit is bordered by the Umatilla National Forest, US Bureau of Land Management, and private property. The creek that runs through the property appears as Wenatchee and Menatchee on different maps. In this plan it will be referred to as Wenatchee, the name on the legal documents and the locally used name. Elevations on the 4-0 Ranch Unit range from about 1,400 feet to 3,500 feet. Close to the Grande Ronde River, narrow canyons and steeps slopes are common. Above the major drainage breaks, broad ridges and gentle benches tend to prevail. The dominant drainage pattern is to the southwest toward the Grande Ronde River. Many relatively level areas have been under recent cultivation and or harvest. Average annual precipitation is approximately 19-21 inches. At the time of acquisition, WDFW’s interest in acquiring this property was due to its relatively ecologically intact and diverse landscape that will protect habitats and species, as well as connecting large blocks of public land. The unit includes ten miles of river and creek habitat, with parts of the Wenatchee, Cougar, Grouse, and Medicine Creek drainages, tributaries, and shorelines of the Grande Ronde River, a tributary of the Snake River. Various National Ecological Systems are present, with the Columbia Foothill and Dry Canyon Grassland and Northern Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine and Woodland Savanna predominating (see Figure 4). There have not been any significant recent fires on the 4-0 Ranch Unit. However, before fire suppression efforts began in the 1900’s, the forest and grasslands are thought to have burned every 16-40 years historically. Due to fuels accumulation over the last 100 years, changing vegetation conditions, and fire suppression, the surrounding areas have more recently experienced large, often stand-replacing wildfires such as the Grizzly Bear Complex fire of 2015 which burned over 82,000 acres and came within a few miles of the 4-0 Ranch Wildlife Area. Tribal Treaty Rights The Blue Mountains Wildlife Areas are in part of the aboriginal range of the Nez Perce, Walla Walla, Cayuse, Umatilla, and Palouse Tribes. The Nez Perce Tribe and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have treaty harvest rights within the subbasin. The tribes have retained the right to take fish at all “usual and accustomed” places, and to hunt, gather, and pasture livestock on open and unclaimed land. The Treaty of Walla Walla (June 9, 1855) and the Treaty with the Nez Perces (June 11, 1855), both signed at Camp Stevens, Walla Walla Valley, include language about these rights. Treaty tribes have been recognized as managers of their treaty-reserved resources, and have interest in the management decisions in the Blue Mountains Wildlife Area (US. v Washington 1974). WDFW honors and respects Tribal treaty reserved rights, and will take into consideration traditional 3 hunting and gathering sites in any actions in this plan that may affect them. Communicating and coordinating with tribes is an objective of the Blue Mountains Wildlife Areas Management Plan. Land Use Prior to the WDFW acquisition, the 4-0 Ranch was a well-managed working ranch, with agricultural fields and cattle grazing. The former town of Mountain View, which currently lies on the 4-0 Ranch Unit, had a post office until 1951 and a school until 1954 before purchase by a private ranching company. Part of the purchase agreement with WDFW allowed the seller to continue agricultural and grazing practices, but the seller ceased operations in 2017. In 2018, an agreement was reached with two new operators to graze cattle and grow crops in a similar fashion. Grazing is regulated under the terms of the management plan,

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