William H. Rickard and Linda D. Poole, PacificNorthwest Laboratory, Richland, 99352

TerrestrialWildlife of the HanfordSite: Past and Future

Abstract

The undeveloped land ofthe U.S. Department ofEnergy's Hanford Site provides habitat suitable for a few shrubsteppe animal whose populations are diminishing elsewhere in eastern Washington, primarily due to the conversion of native stands of vegetation to crop . To sustain isolated remnant populations in the future requires information on the habitat requirements ofeach species. The balance between the extent ofnatural perturbations, such as wildfire, and the human-induced vegetational changes, such as conversion of stands of native vegetation to crop plants or maintenance of grassesinstead of and grasses to provide more livestock forage, has long-tern implications for sustaining threatened and endangered species as well as other native wild animals in semiarid eastern Washington and the shrubsteppe region in general. The Hanford Site, by virtue of its large size (1400 km'!) and its conservative use of land, provides a refugium for native wildlife populations in the absence of farming and/or livestock grazing.

Introduction For the purpose of this review, shrubsteppe habitat consistsof stands of desert shrubs with Wildlife populations inhabiting the 1400 km2 of an understory consisting mostly of grasses. Hanford mostly undevelopedland that the Site Shrubsteppe wildlife species are those that can now occupies received little or no scientific at- successfully breed and reproduce using the tention during the years following the advent of resourcesprovided mostly by shrubsteppeplant regional livestock grazing (circa 1850) and crop communities. cultivation (circa 1880). Mature shrubsteppe communities on In 1943, the land was acquired by the federal the Hanford Site are usually dominated by big government as a site for the production of sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata, with scattered nuclear materials (Figure l). The sparse resident stands of antelope bitterbrush, Purshia triden- human population was relocated,livestock graz- tata, rabbitbrush, Chrysothamnus nauseosus, ing and farming ceased, and the general public spiny hopsage, Grayia sponosa, or , was excluded from using the land. The impact Sarcobatus oermiculatus. The most abundant of a century of livestock grazing, irrigated and native grasses are bluebunch wheatgrass, Poa dryland agriculture, and urbanization (two small Agropyron spicatum, Sandberg's bluegrass, sand,be r gii, needle-and-thread, Stipa co mata, ln- towns, Hanford and White Bluffs) upon native dian ricegrass, Oryzopsis hymenoides, and prairie wildlife populations was not scientifically junegrass Koeleria cristata. Native forb species documented. include balsamroot, Balsamorhiza careyana, Following the relocation of the human lupine, Lupinus spp., longJeaved, phlox, Phlox population from the Hanford Site, abandoned longifulia, hawksbeard, Crepis atribarba, scarlet agricultural fields became self-colonizedby a few globemallow, Sphaeralcea munroana, and eve- speciesof weedyannual plants. These plants, all ning primrose, Oenotherapallida, among others. Eurasian introductions, are now persistent The few native trees, cottonwoods, Populus spp., members of the flora. Cheatgrass,Bromus tec- and willows, Salix spp., are restricted to the wet t o r u m, trtmble mustard, Sisym b riu m ah i ssim u m, shoreline of the Columbia River and the few j agged chickweed, H olo st eum um be llat um, y ellow spring streams in the RattlesnakeHills. salsify, Tragopogon dubius, and wild lettuce, Before 1960, cattle had grazed the land ad- Lactuca serriola, are especially abundant. Re- jacent to these spring streams for many years, invasion of the abandoned fields by native plants suppressing the growth of the woody plants. has been a slow process,mostly becauseof the When cattle grazing was terminated by fencing, intense competition for soil water and nutrients the streamside vegetation recovered quickly provided by the aliens(Daubenmire 1970,1975; (Rickard and Cushing 1982). Rickard and Sauer 1982; Rickard and Rogers Exotic trees were planted and ir- 1983). rigated around farm houses for shade and as

NorthwestScience, Vo]. 63, No.4, 1989 183 Washington State Department of Wildlife Reserve f-- Saddle Mountain ,-It- National Wildlife -r' Refuge

/ Priest ,)t Rapids !r' Dam N Rercto. .l 'I 00 Areas F aacffi K

Vernita Bridge Old Hanford Townsite \. \, Rin gold

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Richland

AN West Richland A Benton

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Figure I. Outline Map of the U.S. Departmentof Energy's Hanford Site.

184 Rickard and Poole windbreaks by residents in the decadesbefore agricultural land use have been identified by the 1943.These trees,mostly black locusts,Robinia Washington Department of Wildlife (1987)and pseudoacacia,and Siberian elms, Ulmus purnila, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service(1985). Those have not been artificially irrigated since the speciesthought to be in most need of protection, residentswere relocated.Many trees have died, and that are known or thought to inhabit the but others are still alive, although they do not Hanford Site, are listed below: reproduce by seedlings. Birds The large buildings associatedwith nuclear Sage grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus materials production are clustered at widely Sage sparrow, Amphispiza belli spacedlocations on the Hanford Site. The reac- Sage thrasher, Oreoscoptes rlontanus tor buildings (100 Areas)are all situated on the Loggerhead shrike, Lanius ludoaicianus western shoreline of the Columbia River (Figure Long-billed curlew, Numenius americanus l). The chemical separation buildings are located Swainson's hawk, Buteo swainsoni in the 200 East and 200 West Areas near the Ferruginous hawk, Buteo regalis center ofthe Hanford Site. The 300 Area, located Burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia in the extreme southeastern corner, contains the Mammals uranium fuel fabrication facilities as well as Merriam's shrew, Sorer merriami numerous other buildings associatedwith lab- Pyg-y rabbit, Sylailagus idahoensis (?) oratory research. Other building clusters include Reptiles the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) and the com- Striped whipsnake, Masticophis taeniatus mercial nuclear power stations, WNP-1, 2 and,4, owned by the Washington Public Power Supply The Hanford Site provides habitat suitable System(WPPSS). All building clusters are con- for wide-ranging species, including elk, Centus nected by roadways, railroad tracks, and elec- mule deer, Odocoileushemionus; coyote, trical transmission lines. However, most of the elnphus; Canis latrans; and black-tailedjackrabbits Lepus Iand between the clusters is undeveloped and pro- , These wild animals are usually not vides stands suitable for sustaining populations califurnicus. tolerated at all, or their populations are artificial- of shrubsteppe birds, mammals, reptiles, and ly suppressed to low-levels, if they inhabit or in- amphibians. trude upon farmlands because of the damage (ALE) The Arid Land Ecology Reserve is a they can do to crops, in the caseof the herbivores, (260 special area of relatively undisturbed land and to livestock, in the case of coyotes. km') located in the southwesternsector of the Hanford Site (Figure I and Figure 2). There are Habitat Conservationand Breeding no industrial buildings on the reserve.The ALE ShrubsteppeBirds reserve was designated as an environmental research area in 1967. Habitat conservation is believed to be the key to maintaining breeding populations of Land Use and ShrubsteppeWildlife shrubsteppebirds. Plants provide nesting sites, perches, and shelter