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Generalized IMP Template U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service St. Croix Wetland Management District Habitat Management Plan June 2020 Wildlife on a muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) hut at Bierbrauer WPA. (Thomas Kerr,USFWS) St. Croix Wetland Management District Habitat Management Plan 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, over 460 national wildlife refuges and other units of the Refuge System, as well as 38 wetland management districts. St. Croix Wetland Management District Habitat Management Plan Habitat Management Plan St. Croix Wetland Management District Signature Page1 Action Signature /Printed Name Date Digitally signed by CHRISTOPHER TROSEN Prepared By: CHRISTOPHER TROSEN Date: 2020.06.22 07:29:11 -05'00' Chris Trosen, Refuge Biologist / Jennifer Herner-Thogmartin, DNRCP Wildlife Biologist Submitted By: Digitally signed by BRIDGET BRIDGET OLSON OLSON Date: 2020.06.23 16:13:06 -05'00' Bridget Olson, Project Leader Digitally signed by CATHERINE Reviewed By: CATHERINE NIGG NIGG Date: 2020.06.26 14:58:13 -05'00' Cathy Nigg, Refuge Supervisor, Area 2 Digitally signed by JEANNE Reviewed By: JEANNE HOLLER HOLLER Date: 2020.06.29 08:43:39 -05'00' Jeanne Holler (Acting) Chief, Division of Natural Resources and Conservation Planning Digitally signed by SUZANNE Approved By: SUZANNE BAIRD BAIRD Date: 2020.06.29 15:03:29 -05'00' Suzanne Baird, Regional Refuge Chief 1 Signatures apply to all contents of the HMP. ii St. Croix Wetland Management District Habitat Management Plan Table of Contents Signature Page .................................................................................................................................ii Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4 1.0 Scope and Rationale ......................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Legal Mandates ................................................................................................................ 6 1.2 Relationship to Other Plans ............................................................................................. 6 Chapter 2: Background ................................................................................................................. 12 2.0 District Location and Description ................................................................................... 13 2.1 Physical/Geographic Setting .......................................................................................... 16 2.2 Climate ........................................................................................................................... 22 2.3 Historic Perspective ........................................................................................................ 22 2.4 Current Land Classification and District Conditions ....................................................... 26 Chapter 3: Resources of Concern ................................................................................................. 40 3.0. Introduction.................................................................................................................... 41 3.1. Comprehensive Resources of Concern .......................................................................... 41 3.2. Biological Integrity, Diversity, and Environmental Health ............................................. 43 3.3. Priority Refuge Resources of Concern ........................................................................... 44 3.4. Relationship between Refuge Habitats and Priority Resources of Concern .................. 46 3.5. Priorititization of District Habitats ................................................................................. 52 3.6. Prioritization of Wetland Management Units ................................................................ 54 3.7. Conflict Resolution ......................................................................................................... 54 3.8. Adaptive Management ................................................................................................... 55 Chapter 4: Habitat Goals, Objectives, Strategies .......................................................................... 57 4.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 58 4.1 Grassland Management (High Priority) .............................................................................. 61 4.2 Wetland Management (High Priority) ................................................................................ 67 4.3 Savanna Management (High Priority) ................................................................................. 71 4.4 Forest Management (Low Priority) ..................................................................................... 75 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................. 79 Appendix A: CCP Goals and Objectives ......................................................................................... 91 Appendix B: St Croix WMD Wetland Thunderstorm Map ............................................................ 93 Appendix C: St. Croix WMD 2020 seed species list ...................................................................... 94 Appendix D: ROCSTAR Comprehensive list of species for St. Croix WMD .................................. 99 June 2020 1 St. Croix Wetland Management District Habitat Management Plan Appendix E: ROCSTAR: Resources of Concern Selection Tool for Americas Refuges ................ 100 Appendix F: Prioritization tool ................................................................................................... 109 Appendix G: Current and desired conditions of habitat types within each WPA and conservation easement .............................................................................................................. 113 Appendix H: Habitat Management Strategy Descriptions ......................................................... 130 List of Figures Figure 1.1. Bird conservation regions of Wisconsin. Most of St. Croix Wetland Management District is within BCR 23: Prairie Hardwood Transition. ............................................................... 10 Figure 1.2. Karner blue butterfly high potential range regulatory map (Source: Figure 6.10. in WDNR 2010).................................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 2.1. Location of St. Croix Wetland Management District and District office. ................... 14 Figure 2.2. Overview of St. Croix Wetland Management District Waterfowl Production Area (WPA) management units and U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) conservation easements (formerly Farmers Home Administration). Figure created by Jim Lutes 4/2/2014. ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 2.3. Wisconsin’s Ecological Landscapes (WDNR 2015b). Figure created by Jim Lutes 4/2/2014. ...................................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 2.4. Other conservation lands in the area of St. Croix Wetland Management District (Source: 2008 St. Croix WMD CCP; Table 13). Figure created by Jim Lutes on 4/2/2014. ........... 19 Figure 2.5. Major watersheds, lakes and rivers of St. Croix Wetland Management District (USFWS 2008a). Figure created by Jim Lutes 4/2/2014. ............................................................. 21 Figure 2.6. Pre-settlement vegetation in St. Croix Wetland Management District. (Finley 1976). Figure created by Chris Trosen 4/16/2020. .................................................................................. 24 Figure 2.7. Current landcover of the St. Croix Wetland Management District (Source: Wisclands 2.0, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources). ..................................................................... 30 Figure 2.8. Location of Bird Conservation Areas within St. Croix Wetland Management District. ....................................................................................................................................................... 32 Figure 2.9. Permanently protected lands in St. Croix Wetland Management District with focus areas. ............................................................................................................................................. 34
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