Sites of Biodiversity Significance
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A Natural Heritage Assessment of Wetlands and Riparian Areas in Routt County, Colorado Report Submitted to: the Colorado Department of Natural Resources December 1996 Prepared by: Denise Culver, Assistant Wetland Ecologist John Sanderson, Wetland Ecologist The Colorado Natural Heritage Program General Services Building Room 254 Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 REPORT ORGANIZATION This report is divided into 3 sections. Each section contains a table of contents, list of tables, and list of figures (when necessary). The first section (red tabs) presents the executive summary, recommendations, and sites of biodiversity significance. The second section (blue tabs) presents the project’s background, wetland definitions and regulations, methods, major impacts, Colorado Natural Heritage Program description, wetland functions and values, and the hydrogeomorphic approach. The third section (green tabs) contains characterization abstracts of the wetland/riparian communities, plants, amphibians, birds, and invertebrates associated with Routt County wetlands. The literature cited and field form examples are located at the end of the report. It is hoped that this organization will be helpful to all who will use this report. 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Financial support for this study was provided by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region VIII, through the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR), with in-kind services provided by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program. We greatly appreciate the support and assistance of Doug Robotham and Deborah Mellblom of the Department of Natural Resources. We appreciate the work of Bruce Gordon and Project Lighthawk for their help with an aerial reconnaissance. We greatly appreciated the accommodations at the Carpenter Ranch provided by Geoff Blakesly and The Nature Conservancy. Thanks to Holly and Brian Richter for being our fine-dining companions and the spirited discussions that would ensue. Gratitude is expressed to Susan Otis, Yampa Valley Land Trust and Jaime Williams, The Nature Conservancy for their help with landowner contacts. Many people at the Colorado Natural Heritage Program contributed to the success of this project, especially, Net Meredith and her entourage of interns who processed the field data. Chris Pague, Steve Kettler, Kevin Essington, and Melissa Landon reviewed a draft of this report, although any errors in the final report are the authors’. Finally, we thank the many landowners (too numerous to name here) for their cooperation in allowing us access to their land to conduct the inventory. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1 REPORT ORGANIZATION...........................................................................................................1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................2 TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................................3 LIST OF TABLES...........................................................................................................................5 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................7 RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................9 SITES OF BIODIVERSITY SIGNIFICANCE .............................................................................10 (1) Bear River ............................................................................................................................13 (2) California Park Site..............................................................................................................15 (3) East Fork Williams Fork Site...............................................................................................19 (4) Elk River ..............................................................................................................................21 (5) Independence Creek Site......................................................................................................25 (6) Little Snake River ................................................................................................................28 (7) Mill Creek Site .....................................................................................................................31 (8) Morrison Creek ....................................................................................................................33 (9) Phillips Creek.......................................................................................................................36 (10) Pleasant Valley...................................................................................................................39 (11) Slater Park Site...................................................................................................................43 (12) Soda Creek .........................................................................................................................45 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS (contiunued) Section 1 (13) Steamboat Lake Site (Willow and Beaver Creeks)............................................................48 (14) Sunnyside Creek.................................................................................................................50 (15) Windemere Lake ................................................................................................................53 (16) Yampa River at Elk River ..................................................................................................55 (17) Yampa River at Hayden and Morgan Bottoms ..................................................................58 (18) Yampa River South of Steamboat......................................................................................61 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION..................................................................................................65 4 LIST OF TABLES SECTION 1 Table 1. Sites of Biodiversity Significance sites in Routt County, arranged by Biodiversity Rank (B-rank)..................................................................................................................................10 Table 2. Natural Heritage elements at the Bear River site............................................................13 Table 3. Wetland functional evaluation for the Bear River site. ..................................................14 Table 4. Natural Heritage elements at the California Park site. ...................................................16 Table 5. Wetland functional evaluation for the California Park site. ...........................................16 Table 6. Natural Heritage elements at the East Fork Williams Fork site. ....................................19 Table 7. Wetland functional evaluation for the East Fork Williams Fork site. ............................20 Table 8. Natural Heritage elements at Elk River site. ..................................................................21 Table 9. Wetland functional evaluation for Elk River site. ..........................................................22 Table 10. Natural Heritage elements at the Independence Creek site. .........................................26 Table 11. Wetland functional evaluation for the Independence Creek site..................................26 Table 12. Natural Heritage elements at the Little Snake River site..............................................28 Table 13. Wetland functional evaluation for the Little Snake River site. ....................................29 Table 14. Natural Heritage elements at the Mill Creek site. ........................................................31 Table 15. Wetland functional evaluation for the Mill Creek site. ................................................32 Table 16. Natural Heritage elements at the Morrison Creek site. ................................................33 Table 17. Wetland functional evaluation for the Morrison Creek site. ........................................34 Table 18. Natural Heritage elements at the Phillips Creek site. ...................................................37 Table 19. Wetland functional evaluation for the Phillips Creek site............................................37 Table 20. Natural Heritage elements at the Pleasant Valley site..................................................39 Table 21. Wetland functional evaluation for the Pleasant Valley site..........................................40 Table 22. Natural Heritage elements at the Slater Park site. ........................................................43 Table 23. Wetland functional evaluation for the Slater Park site. ................................................44 Table 24. Natural Heritage elements at the Soda Creek site. .......................................................45 Table 25. Wetland functional evaluation for the Soda Creek site. ...............................................46 Table 26. Natural Heritage elements at the Steamboat Lake site. ................................................48 Table 27. Wetland functional evaluation for the Steamboat Lake site.........................................49 Table 28. Natural Heritage elements at the Sunnyside Creek site................................................50