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RAINWATER BASIN WETLAND MANAGEMENT DISTRICT Kearney

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RAINWATER BASIN WETLAND MANAGEMENT DISTRICT Kearney RAINWATER BASIN WETLAND MANAGEMENT DISTRICT Kearney, Nebraska ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT 2001 U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM REVIEW AND APPROVALS Kearney, Nebraska ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT 2001 !ZS Project Leader Date Refuge Supervisor Review Date '2 l/e>2~ Regional Office Approval Date INTRODUCTION Originally, the Rainwater Basin in south central Nebraska contained more than 3,900 wetland basins within a 17-county area. The Basin region covers 4,200 square miles of flat to gently rolling Peorial Loess Plains. Wetland basins are generally large, shallow depressions with deep clay soils-creating an impervious water barrier. The name Rainwater Basin i—1—L— - ^-Q comes from the basins' ability to go from dry to flooded conditions i i quickly-following heavy rainstorms and snow melts. Soils surrounding the basins are very fertile, consisting of heavy silt loams and silty clay. -1 Beneath these soils and basins lies the Ogallala Aquifer, which is the Raln\ watef Basln ^ source of water for the extensive amount of irrigated corn and soybeans. Agricultural and rural development has destroyed 90 percent of the original number of wetlands. The Fish and Wildlife Service began acquiring wetlands in 1963. By 1966, 7,000 acres were acquired and a management office was established in Hastings, Nebraska. In 1976, the office was moved to its present location: Kearney, Nebraska. The Rainwater Basin Wetland Management District (WMD) currently manages 63 tracts of land, 61 of which are Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA) totaling 23,059 acres. One of the remaining two areas is McMurtrey Wildlife Management Area that was transferred from the military. Its 1052 acres are closed to public use. The other tract is the Platte River National Wildlife Management Area (438 acres), this property is owned by the state of Wyoming and managed through a memorandum of understanding. WPAs are small isolated tracts of land scattered throughout the District. Most WPAs contain only one large wetland. All WPAs are managed as a grassland ecosystem. Wetland management is focused toward providing optimum waterfowl and shorebird habitats. The uplands are managed for a high diversity of native tall and mid-grass plant species. Thirty-nine FmHA conservation easements totaling 2903 acres are managed by this office as well. Spring migration is the primary focus of the Rainwater Basin WMD. Each spring, about six million snow geese, one million Canada geese, 90 percent of the mid-continent white-fronted goose population, 5-7 million ducks, and one-half million Sandhill cranes use the Basin and Platte River. Habitat becomes very critical during this time of year. Extensive pumping and creative management are needed to maintain quality habitat for resting and staging. The huge concentration of birds, in a limited number of wetlands, annually pose a threat of avian cholera outbreak. In addition to habitat management on refuge lands, our office spends considerable staff and funds to restore wetland habitat on refuge and privately owned lands. Often, new refuge areas have the wetland drained and the upland farmed. Cost of restoration in some cases meets or exceeds the purchase price of the property. During 1991 to 1997, budget cuts and departmental reorganization reduced station staff by 44 percent and budget by 18 percent. During that same time period, land acquisition increased 25 percent and easements by 467 percent. The effect was large expansion of invasive plants, including noxious weeds and volunteer trees. Since 1997, our station has worked to build partnerships with other agencies and organizations to restore wetlands and surrounding uplands. Many of the partnerships have become possible through the work of the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture. Station Mission: To protect, restore and manage wetlands and prairie grassland habitat in support of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan; provide resting, nesting, feeding, and staging habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds; protect endangered and threatened species and their habitats; restore the natural flora and fauna (as practical) for tall-grass prairie ecosystems; and increase public opportunities TABLE OF CONTENTS tor outdoor recreation and environmental education. Station Goals: 1. Enhance wetland habitat for migratory birds. INTRODUCTION 2. Improve habitat for the propagation and protection of endangered and threatened species. 3. Protect wetlands through fee-title and easement acquisition, and coordination with other conservation A. HIGHLIGHTS 1 programs, protect wetlands from degradation through drainage, erosion, siltation, and farming B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS 1 practices. & C. LAND ACQUISITION 7. Fee Title 2 4. Reestablish native flora and bio diversity of tall grass prairie ecosystems. 8. Easements 2 5. Expand the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture to maintain, enhance, and create new partnerships that 9. Other 2 further the goals of the station. 6. Provide opportunities for public participation in a wide range of outdoor recreation and interpretation D. PLANNING activities. r 1. Master Plan 2 2. Management Plan 2 3. Public Participation 2 4. Compliance with Environ. & Cultural Resource Mandates 3 5. Research and Investigations 3 6. Other 5 E. ADMINISTRATION 1. Personnel 5 2. Youth Programs 6 3. Other Manpower Programs 6 4. Volunteer Program 6 5. Funding 7 6. Safety 8 7. Technical Assistance 9 8. Other 9 F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT 1. General 9 2. Wetlands 10 3. Forests 15 4. Cropland 15 5. Grasslands 17 6. Other Habitats 17 7. Grazing 17 8. Haying 18 9. Fire Management 19 10. Pest Control 21 11. Water Rights 25 12. Wilderness and Special Areas 25 13. WPA Easement Monitoring 25 G. WILDLIFE 1. Wildlife Diversity 26 2. Endangered and/or Threatened Species 26 3. Waterfowl 26 4. Marsh and Water Birds 28 5. Shorebirds, Gulls, Terns and Allied Species 29 6. Raptors 30 7. Other Migratory Birds 30 A. HIGHLIGHTS 8. Game Mammals 30 Rainwater Basin WMD continued its focus on three main areas: wetland restoration grass an 9. Marine Mammals 30 restoration and biological monitoring. Wetland restoration included the filling of a pit locat«i on Prairie 10. Other Resident Wildlife 30 Dog WPA. The pit has been in existence since we purchased the property in the mid 1960 s. It has a ways 11. Fisheries Resources 30 been so low on the priority list that it has never been addressed until this year The filling of the pit signif 12. Wildlife Propagation and Stocking 30 that we are beginning to get ahead on wetland restoration. The second wetland restoration project begun 13. Surplus Animal Disposal 30 in 2001 was the filling of the Vi mile concentration pit on Waco WPA. Natural Resources Conservation 14. Scientific Collections 30 Service d" the enginLing on the project. It required 33,000 cubic yards of dirt The fill material came 15. Animal Control 30 from the remaining portion of the wetland (the same area the original pit material was deposited). 16. Marking and Banding 30 17. Disease Prevention and Control 30 The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture assisted our office in wetland restoration by paying the costs for H. PUBLIC USE drilling a new well on Funk and purchasing three new engines to run wells. Many of our existing engines 1. General 30 are more than 20 years in age. See Section F.2. for more details. 2. Outdoor Classrooms - Students 31 3. Outdoor Classrooms - Teachers 31 Grassland restoration expanded greatly with the purchase of a combine and seed harvesting head to fit 4. Interpretive Foot Trails 31 the combine. The combine was purchased by Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Pheasan s 5. Interpretive Tour Routes 31 Forever through a cooperative agreement. Under the agreement, they purchased the combine while our 6. Interpretive Exhibits/Demonstrations 31 station purchased a new seed head. Seed harvested was then shared by the three agencies. See Section F.5. 7. Other Interpretive Programs 32 for more details. 8. Hunting 32 9. Fishing 33 Biological monitoring received a real boost in the arm by the implementation of a Joint Venture 10. Trapping 33 Evaluation Study, being conducted by Loren Smith and staff from Texas Tech. The study will evaluate bird 11. Wildlife Observation 33 use of various wetlands and compare the existing conditions and past management history which caused the 12. Other Wildlife Oriented Recreation 33 wetlands to have their respective characteristics. In addition to this study, the CALMIT division o 13. Camping 33 Conservation and Survey, University of Nebraska-Lincoln has completed a $550,000 geographic 14. Picnicking 33 information system project that compiled multiple layers of watershed land features associated with each 15. Off-Road Vehicling 33 state and federal property in the Rainwater Basin. See Section D.5. for more details. 16. Other Non-Wildlife Oriented Recreation 33 17. Law Enforcement 33 The station was funded to hire a Prescribed Fire Specialist, a newly created position. Bruce Winter 18. Cooperating Associations 34 transferred from the Bureau of Land Management in Colorado in November. He immediately began 19. Concessions 34 working on writing new and updating existing burn plans. The station purchased its second Model 52 I. EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES pumper engine. We also obtained a surplus 6X6 (2 'A ton) Kaiser Jeep from the military to hold a 1000 1. New Construction 34 gallon tank for use as a water tender. Our expanded fire program allowed us to have a record year for 2. Rehabilitation 34 prescribed burning. See Section F.9. for details. 3. Major Maintenance 34 4. Equipment Utilization and Replacement 35 Mindy Meade played a large role in putting together a $700,000 NAWCA grant application which was 5. Communications Systems 35 funded. The grant was for multi-agency projects including wetland acquisition and restoration. 6. Computer Systems 35 7. Energy Conservation 35 8. Other 35 R ri TMATTC CONDITIONS J.
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