United States Department of the Interior FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office 2600 SE 98th Avenue, Suite 100 Portland, Oregon 97266 Phone: (503)231-6179 FAX: (503)231-6195 Reply to: 8330.0133 (4) File Name: RestorBO.doc TS Number: 05-0262 Memorandum To: State Supervisor, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, Portland, Oregon From: Assistant Project Leader, Endangered Species/Land and Water Development Program, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, Portland, Oregon Subject: Intra-Service Formal and Informal Section 7 Consultation for the Oregon Restoration Programs: Coastal, Greenspaces, Jobs in the Woods, Partners for Fish and Wildlife, and Private Stewardship Grants Programs: 2004 to 2009 (ref. no.1- 7-F-04-0133) This document transmits the Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) biological opinion (BO) based on our review of the Service’s Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office (OFWO), Non-Federal Lands Conservation Division’s January 16, 2004 biological assessment (BA) for the Coastal, Greenspaces, Jobs in the Woods, Partners for Fish and Wildlife and Private Stewardship Grants Programs (hereafter collectively referred to as the Restoration Program) for a five year period upon signature of this BO. This BO covers the OFWO and suboffices (Bend, Newport, Roseburg and La Grande) and the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program restoration efforts throughout Oregon, excluding those areas of Klamath, Lake, and Jackson counties administered by the Service’s Klamath Basin Office (Appendix A). The BA addresses the effects of the Service’s Restoration Programs on those Federally listed species in Table 1 for which the Service is responsible under the Endangered Species Act (Act) as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Since your request for consultation and conferencing on proposed bull trout critical habitat was received the Service has made a final rule. Therefore, the Service is providing formal consultation on designated bull trout critical habitat. The Service is consulting concurrently with NOAA Fisheries concerning listed anadromous fish species and their designated critical habitat. 1 Table 1. Species addressed in the biological assessment for which the Service has lead Endangered Species Act responsibility, their listing status, and the Service’s effects determinations. Species Scientific name Federal Status Determination Mammals Canada lynx Felis lynx canadensis T NLAA Columbian white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus leucurus E NLAA Birds Marbled murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus T/CH NLAA Western snowy plover (coastal) Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus T/CH NLAA Bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus T NLAA Brown pelican Pelecanus occidentalis E NLAA Northern spotted owl Strix occidentalis caurina T/CH NLAA Fish Warner sucker Catostomus warnerensis T/CH LAA Oregon chub Oregonichthys crameri E LAA Bull trout Salvelinus confluentus T/CH LAA Invertebrates Vernal pool fairy shrimp Branchinecta lynchi T NLAA Fender's blue butterfly Icaricia icarioides fenderi E LAA Oregon silverspot butterfly Speyeria zerene hippolyta T/CH NLAA Plants Willamette daisy Erigeron decumbens var. E NLAA decumbens Gentner's fritillary Fritillaria gentneri E NLAA Water howellia Howellia aquatilis T NLAA Western lily Lilium occidentale E NLAA Large-flowered meadowfoam Limnanthes floccosa ssp. E NLAA grandiflora Bradshaw's lomatium Lomatium bradshawii E NLAA Cook's lomatium Lomatium cookii E NLAA 2 Kincaid’s lupine Lupinus sulphureus var. kincaidii T NLAA MacFarlane's four o'clock Mirabilis macfarlanei T NLAA Rough Popcornflower Plagiobothrys hirtus E NLAA Nelson's checker-mallow Sidalcea nelsoniana T NLAA Spalding's catchfly Silene spaldingii T NLAA Howell's spectacular thelypody Thelypodium howellii var. T NLAA spectabilis (E) - Endangered (T) - Threatened (CH) - designated Critical Habitat (Prop) - proposed (NLAA) - May affect, not likely to adversely affect (LAA) - May affect, likely to adversely affect Consultation History The Non-Federal Land Conservation Division (NFLCD) requested concurrence with its determinations that the proposed Restoration Programs “may affect, but are not likely to adversely affect” the Canada lynx, Columbian white-tailed deer, marbled murrelet, western snowy plover (Pacific coast population), bald eagle, brown pelican, northern spotted owl, vernal pool fairy shrimp, Oregon silverspot butterfly, Willamette daisy, Gentner's fritillary, Water howellia, Western lily, large-flowered meadowfoam, Bradshaw's lomatium, Cook's lomatium, Kincaid’s lupine, MacFarlane's four o'clock, rough popcornflower, Nelson's checker-mallow, Spalding's catchfly, and Howell's spectacular thelypody and their designated critical habitat as identified in Table 1, and to initiate formal consultation for its “may affect, likely to adversely affect” determinations for the Oregon chub, Warner sucker, bull trout, and Fender’s blue butterfly, in accordance with section 7 of the Act. A draft BA was initially provided to the Land and Water Development Division and NOAA Fisheries for review May 6, 2003. Informal comments were provided via electronic mail and verbally to Dan Perritt. Meetings were held internally with the Service and with NOAA Fisheries to discuss the proposed action in the draft BA. A final BA was submitted to the Assistant Project Leader, Endangered Species/Land and Water Development Program dated January 16, 2004. The Service established the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program in 1987 to provide technical and financial assistance to private landowners interested in restoring or otherwise improving native habitats for fish and wildlife. In Oregon, the Service prepared a programmatic BO November 16, 1998, (USDI FWS 1998a) for the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program. Partners for Fish and Wildlife program activities were consulted on for fiscal years 1998-2002. Activities under the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program which did not fit the programmatic BO were consulted on individually. The Coastal Program is a national program which was expanded to Oregon in spring 2002. It is a non-regulatory program that relies on voluntary partnerships. All projects funded under the initial year were reviewed for environmental compliance individually, including section 7 3 consultation. This BA and BO are the first programmatic consultations for the Coastal Program in Oregon. The Service’s Jobs-In-The-Woods Program was established under the Northwest Economic Adjustment Initiative in 1994 as part of the Northwest Forest Plan. In Oregon, the Service previously consulted programmatically on the Jobs-In-Woods-Program and a BO was completed June 20, 1997. The Programmatic JITW consultation covered projects using FY 96 funds, as well as projects funded in through FY 98. The consultation also stated that the opinion may be amended to include all additional fiscal years in which the JITW Program is funded, as long as the program objectives and goals remain unchanged. The Greenspaces Program is a congressionally allocated program administered through a partnership between Portland Metro and the Service. Projects funded through the program go to restoration, environmental education, urban ecological studies, and projects designed to reduce the effects of urbanization in the greater Portland metropolitan area. The Greenspaces Program to date has consulted individually on projects. This is the first programmatic consultation for the Greenspaces Program. The Service’s Private Land Stewardship Grants Program is a congressionally established program begun in 2002 with funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The program provides grants and other assistance on a competitive basis to the individuals and groups engaged in local, private, and voluntary conservation efforts that benefit Federal listed, proposed, or candidate species or other at risk species. This biological opinion is based on information provided in the Coastal, Greenspaces, Jobs in the Woods, and Partners for Fish and Wildlife Programmatic BA (FWS 2003) and supporting reference information; numerous discussions between NFLCD, Service consultation biologists and species experts and NOAA Fisheries personnel, and file information and reference material located at the OFWO. A complete administrative record of this consultation is on file at the OFWO. BIOLOGICAL OPINION DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ACTION The similarity of activities under the Service’s Restoration Programs allow for the categorization of these activities under the following eight project categories: (I) riparian habitat restoration, (II) wetland habitat restoration, (III) instream habitat restoration, (IV) fish passage improvements, (V) upland habitat restoration, (VI) coastal and estuarine habitat restoration, (VII) road and trail improvements, and (VIII) surveys, assessments, and monitoring activities. Actions under each of the project categories are described below. Appendix B provides detailed information on project design standards that will be implemented during the completion of the various restoration activities. The acquisition and use of restoration materials is addressed at the end of the chapter. 4 The work area for an activity under any project category that may directly or indirectly affect surface water may require the temporary isolation of the area by one or more of the following techniques. These techniques will minimize or eliminate a potential increase in the turbidity of the water source adjacent to the work area. Sediments trapped behind the structure(s)