Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan for Naval Air Station Key West Florida
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Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan for Naval Air Station Key West Florida Plan Years 2007 to 2016 Updated 2014 Prepared By: Department of the Navy Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast This page is intentionally blank. NAS Key West Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan, 2014 Update EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ES.1 Type of Document This document is an Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP). ES.2 Purpose of Document The purpose of this document is to meet statutory requirements under the Sikes Act Improvement Act (SAIA), Public Law 105-85, Div. B. Title XXIX, Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat 2017-2019, 2020-2022. In November 1997, the Sikes Act, 16 United States Code (U.S.C.) § 670a et seq., was amended to require the Secretary of Defense to carry out a program to provide for the conservation and rehabilitation of natural resources on military installations. To facilitate this program, the amendments require the Secretaries of the military departments to prepare and implement INRMPs for each military installation in the United States unless the absence of significant natural resources on a particular installation makes preparation of a plan for the installation inappropriate. The INRMP is to provide for integrated land management, fish and wildlife management, forest management and outdoor recreation management by implementing an ecosystem approach to natural resources management without interfering with the military readiness or mission of the Installation. This INRMP covers a 10-year period, but has the flexibility to accommodate changes in the ecosystem and military mission. Annual updates to the management program and review and revision, when necessary, will ensure that the INRMP integrates the latest scientific knowledge and evolves to meet the future requirements of the military mission and natural resources. ES.3 Overview of the Natural Resources Program The natural resources of Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West are managed to provide an aesthetic outdoor setting with diverse and abundant fish and wildlife, therefore improving the quality of life for military personnel, their dependents, and nearby civilian populations. NAS Key West began managing specifically for fish and wildlife resources in 1983, when the Installation’s first Bird/Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) Assessment was completed by the Air Force BASH Team. In 1984, a Tripartite Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Agreement with the ES-1 NAS Key West Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan, 2014 Update Unites States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the State of Florida was executed. The first Long Range Fish and Wildlife Management Plan for NAS Key West was approved in 1986. In 1989, the Navy, the National Park Service (NPS), and the Florida Division of Recreation and Parks signed a tripartite agreement to provide NAS Key West with professional and technical information and assistance necessary to coordinate actions pertaining to outdoor recreation. The Natural Resources Management Plan was updated in 1992 and the National Park Service completed a Long Range Outdoor Recreation Plan in 1993. In 1996, the fish and wildlife management section of the Natural Resources Management Plan was updated. In 2001, as required by the amended Sikes Act, an Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan was prepared to implement the natural resources management at NAS Key West over a ten year period (2001-2010). In coordination with the USFWS and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC), the Navy has completed annual reviews of the INRMP. During the 2004 annual review meeting, it was mutually determined that the 2001 INRMP needed to be revised. Since the beginning of the military presence in the Keys in 1823, the activities and installations have altered their physical environments to varying degrees, but remnant natural communities remain. These islands of habitat support diverse populations of plants and animals, many of which are rare, threatened and endangered species. The Lower Keys marsh rabbit (LKMR), listed endangered by the USFWS in 1990, occupies habitats on NAS Key West properties including Boca Chica Key, East Rockland Key, Geiger Key, and Saddlebunch Key. Distribution of the LKMR on NAS Key West was determined by Forys (1994) with subsequent distribution being updated by Faulhaber (2002). It is estimated that NAS Key West controls approximately one-third of the occupied habitat for the LKMR. In 1992, NAS Key West consulted with the USFWS on impacts to the LKMR from operational activities. As a result, the USFWS issued a Biological Opinion (BO) in 1993 pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on operational activities at NAS Key West, including those at Boca Chica Field, that may affect the federally-endangered LKMR. The BO considered motor vehicle usage (including off-road), habitat alteration (i.e., mowing of suitable and occupied areas), habitat degradation (invasive exotic plant species), feral cats, people and their dogs, and raccoons as sources of potential impacts to LKMR on Navy lands. The BO identified reasonable and prudent measures to be implemented by the Navy for ES-2 NAS Key West Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan, 2014 Update compliance with an incidental take of this species, which is not to exceed four rabbits the first year and two rabbits per year thereafter. Terms and conditions for the existing incidental take statement require the Navy to institute a “no mowing program” and actively manage sites of known LKMR-occupied habitat. In 1994, NAS Key West developed a Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit Management Plan to outline measures to maintain rabbit populations at existing levels or above, to protect viable populations and to promote the rabbit’s recovery in ways and in areas that do not compromise the primary mission at NAS Key West. The Florida Keys region is dominated by three marine habitat types: mangroves, seagrass, and coral reef. The near-shore land/water interface is dominated by the mangrove community, seagrass is the principal marine benthic vegetation, and different forms of coral reef habitats are interspersed throughout the lower Keys. The species of mangroves present represent a major coastal wetland habitat and much of the mangrove habitat found at NAS Key West is mangrove basin type (South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council [SAFMC] 1998). This habitat type is often dominated by black mangrove and water containing low dissolved oxygen and high levels of hydrogen sulfide (Odum et al. 1982). Seagrass habitat is found within many of the NAS Key West maritime areas, especially within several of the estuarine lagoons at Boca Chica Field. Seagrass habitats are ecologically important for many fish, sea turtle, and marine mammal species. Water quality and, in particular, water clarity is considered among the most critical factors in the maintenance of healthy seagrass habitats. The Florida coral reef tract is the most extensive living reef system in North America, and the third largest system in the world (FKNMS n.d.). The tract supports hundreds of species and helps protect the shoreline from destructive tropical storms and hurricanes. Various coral and hardbottom benthic habitats occur immediately adjacent to Boca Chica Field. Executive Order (EO) 13089 (Coral Reef Protection of June 11, 1998) provides Federal protection for coral reefs, and staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn coral (Acropora palmate) are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. A survey conducted in 2006 found neither of these listed coral species attached to, or in the vicinity of, any NAS Key West owned property. Both these coral species are adversely affected by sedimentation, as are seagrasses. Erosion and runoff control are two key management strategies employed by NAS Key West that will benefit coral and seagrass communities. Additionally, Project 13 in this INRMP involves recurring quantitative monitoring of seagrass and coral resources within NAS Key West properties. ES-3 NAS Key West Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan, 2014 Update Important animals that use the lower Florida Keys oceanic and estuarine habitats include federally managed fish species, marine mammal species, migratory bird species, and sea turtles. There are 88 species of fish that occur in the waters proximate to the NAS Key West that are federally managed. There are approximately 29 species of marine mammals (baleen whales, toothed whales, and manatees) found in the Gulf of Mexico, many of which are present within the Lower Keys region, and all are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Five species of sea turtles are known to inhabit the waters of the Keys, and the loggerhead is the most common. Portions of the shoreline owned by the Navy on Boca Chica Key and Truman Annex are considered sea turtle nesting habitat. NAS Key West has in the past and continues to be active in protecting and monitoring endangered species and improving their habitat when possible. Ecological surveys have been conducted to identify rare plant and animal species, natural communities and occurrences of invasive and exotic plants on all NAS Key West properties. Other important environmental concerns, such as wetlands and non-point source pollution, are always being addressed to ensure that the Installation is in compliance with Federal and State mandates. Efforts continue to be made to protect the diverse and abundant resources that create the aesthetic outdoor setting at NAS Key West and to develop