HABITAT MANAGEMENT PLAN Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge April 2017 Draft Final Habitat Management Plans provide long-term guidance for management decisions; set forth goals, objectives, and strategies needed to accomplish Refuge purposes; and, identify the Fish and Wildlife Service’s best estimate of future needs. These plans detail program planning levels that are sometimes substantially above current budget allocations and as such, are primarily for Service 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. The National Wildlife Refuge System, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is the world's premier system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife, and plants. Since the designation of the first Wildlife Refuge in 1903, the System has grown to encompass more than 150 million acres, 556 National Wildlife Refuges and other units of the Refuge System, plus 38 Wetland Management Districts. This page intentionally left blank. Habitat Management Plan for Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Habitat Management Plan (HMP) provides decisions regarding the priority resources of concern (ROC) at the Ohio River Island National Wildlife Refuge (ORINWR) and associated, specific guidance for enhancing and managing habitat for the ROC across the ORINWR for the next 15 years. The ORINWR is situated along the boundaries of four states and extends over 362 river miles. There are no other USFWS Refuges within 160 miles of ORINWR, nor are there any other Refuge lands along the 981-mile long Ohio River. The island habitats contain assemblages of plants and animals that are endemic to the Ohio River and its floodplain (Cardno 2014). A diversity of wildlife including waterfowl, shore and wading birds, neotropical migratory land birds, mammals, fish, and freshwater mussels are dependent on a functioning big river ecosystem. This HMP is a step-down plan, tiered from the ORINWR Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) (USFWS 2002). The CCP process was a multi-year, collaborative planning exercise resulting in the establishment of ORINWR-specific goals, objectives, and strategies, and this HMP further refines these goals and prescribes specific management actions for their implementation. Because the Service’s understanding of management and the science of conservation has increased since 2002, Chapters 1 and 2 of this HMP provide the context and background upon which we understand the ORINWR and its habitats. Chapter 3 identifies the ROC present at the NWR. As part of the HMP, the planning team and agency partners refined the list of potential ROC during the development of the HMP. Sixteen resources were selected as priority resources by the planning team. A list of these species and their general habitat requirements can be found in Tables 3-2 and 3-3. Priority habitats are also identified in Chapter 3. For ORINWR, the top three habitat priorities (in descending order) are riparian forest, riverine open water and unconsolidated river bottom, and riparian shorelines and banks. Chapter 4 refines habitat goals and objectives specific to selected focal species and prescribes management actions that will help the NWR successfully achieve the goals of the CCP. Chapter 4 outlines the management objectives defined for each habitat type. Then it describes the management actions and strategies used to accomplish the stated objective. The objectives and strategies are supported by rationale that describes the conservation science and reasoning for this management approach to inform future managers and decision makers. The habitat prioritization is then considered alongside logistical considerations in Chapter 4 to provide a prioritization of management units to help guide implementation and annual work planning for the Service staff entrusted with these unique resources. Executive Summary ES-i April 2017 Habitat Management Plan for Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge This page intentionally left blank. Executive Summary ES-ii April 2017 Habitat Management Plan for Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................ I ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................ IV 1.0 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.1 Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge .................................................................. 1-1 1.2 Scope of Habitat Management Plan ................................................................................ 1-1 1.3 Mission Mandates ............................................................................................................. 1-3 1.3.1 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ........................................................................... 1-3 1.3.2 National Wildlife Refuge System ....................................................................... 1-3 1.3.3 Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge .................................................... 1-4 1.4 Relationship to Other Plans ............................................................................................. 1-6 1.4.1 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Policies and Plans .......................................... 1-6 1.4.2 Interagency Plans ............................................................................................... 1-7 1.4.3 Multi-stakeholder Conservation Initiatives ...................................................... 1-8 1.4.4 State Wildlife Action Plans .............................................................................. 1-10 1.4.5 ORINWR-Specific Plans ................................................................................... 1-11 2.0 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 ORINWR Description ........................................................................................................ 2-1 2.1.1 Pre-ORINWR Land Use and Management ........................................................ 2-4 2.1.2 Past USFWS Stewardship .................................................................................. 2-5 2.2 Current Conditions, Natural and Anthropogenic Influences ........................................ 2-6 2.2.1 Wildlife ................................................................................................................. 2-6 2.2.2 Land Classification and Vegetation Assemblages ......................................... 2-9 2.2.3 Existing Threats and Challenges .................................................................... 2-20 2.2.4 Noted trends in Biological Communities ....................................................... 2-21 3.0 RESOURCES OF CONCERN ......................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1.1 Defining Resources of Concern ........................................................................ 3-1 3.1.2 Importance of Defining Resources of Concern to Guide Refuge Activities................................................................................................. 3-1 3.2 Identification of ORINWR Resources of Concern .......................................................... 3-1 3.2.1 ORINWR Purposes and Resources of Concern .............................................. 3-2 Table of Contents i April 2017 Habitat Management Plan for Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge 3.2.2 Refuge System and USFWS Resources of Concern....................................... 3-2 3.3 Biological Integrity, Diversity, and Environmental Health ............................................ 3-3 3.3.1 Defining Biological Integrity, Diversity, and Environmental Health ................................................................................................................... 3-3 3.3.2 Identifying BIDEH within ORINWR .................................................................... 3-4 3.3.3 Maintaining and Restoring BIDEH .................................................................. 3-14 3.4 Priority Resources of Concern ...................................................................................... 3-14 3.4.1 Priority Resources of Concern Selection ...................................................... 3-14 3.4.2 ORINWR Focal Species and Relation to ORINWR BIDEH ............................ 3-20 3.5 Broad Habitat Type Prioritization .................................................................................. 3-25 3.6 Conflicting Habitat Management ................................................................................... 3-27 3.7 Adaptive Management .................................................................................................... 3-28 4.0 HABITAT GOAL, OBJECTIVES, AND STRATEGIES