H of the Conservation Plan
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eartof the HWest Conservation Plan Heart of the West Conservation Plan Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Heart of the West Coalition staff, volunteers, funders and reviewers – past, present, and future – for daring to imagine the Heart of the West region whole again and working to make this vision a reality. Chief authors and developers of the Organizations of the wildlands network and conservation plan Heart of the West Coalition While many individuals offered assistance in The following organizations spent count- writing and editing the plan, the chief less hours on all levels of development, designers of the wildlands network and analysis, writing and implementation of authors of the plan and focal species ac- the Heart of the West vision: counts are: Biodiversity Conservation Alliance Allison Jones Western Wildlife Conservancy Jim Catlin Wildlands Project Tom Lind Wild Utah Project Jerry Frelich Wyoming Outdoor Council Kirk Robinson Liz Flaherty Erik Molvar Jeff Kessler Kathy Daly Other supporting organizations Other regional conservation groups, while not a core member of the Heart of the West Coalition, supported the development of the wildlands network and writing of the Conservation Plan through stakeholder meetings and workshops, input and feedback on draft maps, and peer review: American Wildlands Center for Native Ecosystems Craighead Environmental Research Institute National Wildlife Federation Round River Conservation Studies The Nature Conservancy of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming The Wilderness Society Wyoming Wildlife Federation Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative Wolf Howie Garber and Wunderlust Images Funders We thank the following foundations for the support that has made the development of this vision possible: George and Delores Dore Eccles Foundation JEPS Foundation Jones Family Charitable Foundation Maki Foundation Peradam Foundation Switzer Foundation Turner Foundation Walbridge Foundation Wilburforce Foundation Peer Reviewers A vast number of individuals were involved in various rounds of peer review, from review of individual focal species accounts and focal species models, to input on meth- odology and draft maps, to rigorous review of the final Conservation Plan: Tom Rinkes, Mark McKinstry, Bruce Baker, Stewart Breck, Sanjay Pyare, Dave Gaillard, Bob Oakleaf, Brian Miller, Erin Robertson, Bob Luce, Jeff Copeland, Kim Heinemeyer, Bill Adair, Erin O’Doherty, Dave Parsons, Bob Schmidt, Al Steuter, Glen Plumb, Peter Gogan, Steve Dinsmore, Fritz Knoph, Mark Salvo, Don Duff, Mike Young, Ron Remmick, Wayne Hubert, Sherry Ligouri, Jeff Smith, Rich Reynolds, Susan Patla, Paul Dey, Rich Valdez, Denver Holt, Andrea Cerovski, Greg Hayward, Kevin Hurley, Merav Ben-David, Pam Shnurr, Tom Beck, Chuck Shwartz, Nick Bezzerrides, Kevin Bestgen, Angie Young, Reed Noss, Barbara Dugelby, Richard Jeo, Sam Zeveloff, Ken Vance- Borland, Lance Craighead, Joel Tuhy, Chris Montague, Gary Beauvais, Holly Copeland, Joni Ward, John Carter, Jen Clanahan, Kelly Matheson, Meredith Taylor, Mac Blewer, Rick Tingey, Bart Kohler, Doug Plugh, Phil Polzer, Bill Martin, Bruce Marcot, Dave Foreman, and Michael Soule’. Layout and publishing team Bill Hayden provided instrumental assistance as the chief designer of this plan, and was in charge of the layout. Additional assistance was given by Allison Jones, Jim Catlin and Jerry Frelich. Duplication of both CD and hard copy versions of this report are the responsibility of the Wild Utah Project. To receive a CD or hardcopy of the conservation plan, please contact: Wild Utah Project 68 South Main Street, Suite 400 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 (801) 328-2550 [email protected] www.wildutahproject.org Heart of the West Conservation Plan Chapter 1 - Introduction and Background ................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction to the Heart of the West Region ............................................. 2 1.2Regional Description .................................................................................. 4 1.2.1 The Physical Environment ........................................................................... 6 1.2.2 Vegetation Communities .......................................................................... 10 1.2.3 Wildlife ..................................................................................................... 13 1.3 Land Use History, Management and Patterns ........................................... 15 1.3.1 Overview and History ............................................................................... 15 1.3.3 History of Wildlife and Habitat Conservation in the Heart of the West ................................................................................ 20 1.3.4 Land Use and Industry in the Heart of the West........................................ 21 1.4Need for Large-scale Conservation Planning for the Heart of the West ................................................................................ 27 1.5 Ecological Wounds.................................................................................... 30 1.6Mission, Goals and Objectives of this Conservation Plan .......................... 33 1.6.1 Mission ..................................................................................................... 33 1.6.2 Goals ......................................................................................................... 33 1.6.3 Objectives ................................................................................................. 34 Chapter 2 - Methods for Creating the Wildlands Network ......................... 35 2.1 Study Area ................................................................................................ 35 2.2 Our Approach to Conservation Assessment and Reserve Design .............. 38 2.2.1 Three-track Approach ............................................................................... 38 2.2.2 Core/Linkage Model ................................................................................. 42 2.2.3 The Precautionary Principle ...................................................................... 43 2.3 The SITES Model ....................................................................................... 44 2.3.1 Variables in SITES Model ........................................................................... 44 2.3.2 Special Elements ....................................................................................... 49 2.3.3 Representation Analysis ............................................................................ 51 2.3.4 Focal Species ............................................................................................. 56 2.3.5 Determining Core Areas, Linkages and Compatible Use Areas in Lowland Wildlands Network ..................................................................... 59 2.4 Advanced work on Lowlands Wildlands Network ..................................... 60 2.5 Irreplaceability and Vulnerability of Lowland Cores ................................. 62 2.6 Expert Assessment .................................................................................... 66 2.7 Assumptions and Limitations.................................................................... 66 1 Heart of the West Conservation Plan Chapter 3 - Results of SITES Analysis .......................................................... 69 3.1 Results of Natural History Literature Reviews and Focal Species Models ................................................................................ 69 3.2 Proposed Set of Cores, Linkages and Compatible Use Areas for Lowlands Study Area .................................................................. 70 3.3 Irreplaceability vs. Vulnerability Assessment ............................................ 79 3.4 Linking Lowland Solution with Other Conservation Planning Efforts ........................................................................................ 83 3.5 Goal Attainment ....................................................................................... 89 Chapter 4 - Introduction to the Heart of the West Wildlands Network...... 91 4.1 Wildlands Network Unit Classification and Management Guidelines ....... 93 4.1.1 Core Areas ................................................................................................ 93 4.1.2 Core Recovery Areas ................................................................................. 94 4.1.3 Linkages.................................................................................................... 95 4.1.4 Compatible Use Area ................................................................................ 96 4.2 A Closer Look at Key Core Areas - Heart of the West Lowlands .................. 97 4.3 Highlighting Key Linkages in the Lowlands Heart of the West Wildlands Network ................................................................................. 128 4.3.1 The Powder Rim Linkage ........................................................................ 128 4.3.2 The Green River Corridor Linkage ........................................................... 129 Chapter 5 - Implementation of the Heart of the West Wildlands Network .. 135 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 135 5.2 General Implementation Approach: Affecting Management Change for Wildland Network Units ....................................................... 138 5.2.1 Recommended Changes in Land Use or Management ............................ 139 5.2.2