Platte River Basin Little Medicine Bow River Table of Contents Watershed Description ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Aquatic Wildlife ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Identification of Conservation Areas ..................................................................................................................... 5 Threats......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Conservation Initiatives ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Recommended Conservation Actions .................................................................................................................. 10 Monitoring ................................................................................................................................................................ 11 Literature Cited ........................................................................................................................................................ 11 Wyoming State Wildlife Action Plan - 2017 Page III – 15 - 1 Aquatic Basins Wyoming Game and Fish Department Platte River Basin Watershed Description Lower Lodgepole, and Sidney Draw. These watersheds span about one quarter of Six major watersheds were identified for Wyoming, covering 24,200 square miles in conservation planning purposes under this State southeastern and central Wyoming’s Albany, Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) using Carbon, Converse, Fremont, Goshen, Laramie, hydrographic boundaries and fisheries Natrona, Niobrara and Platte counties. Land assemblage and management considerations. ownership is predominantly private (62%). The watersheds each include one to four sub- Public land in this basin is managed primarily by regions (4-digit hydrologic unit code [HUC] the Bureau of Land Management (22%), U.S. watersheds). This approach allows the nesting Forest Service (9%), and the State of Wyoming of multiple spatial and temporal scales for (8%). planning and prioritizing conservation actions. There are approximately 23,450 miles of The Platte River Basin encompasses two 4-digit streams on the USGS National Hydrography HUC watersheds: North Platte and South Platte Dataset in the Platte River basin in Wyoming. (Figure 7). Major drainages in the North Platte Major river drainages in the basin include the River basin corresponding to 8-digit HUCs North Platte, Encampment, Laramie, include the Upper North Platte, Pathfinder- Sweetwater and Medicine Bow. Seminoe Reservoir, Medicine Bow, Little Additional information about the basins Medicine Bow, Sweetwater, Middle North drainages, geography, geology, land forms, Platte-Casper, Glendo Reservoir, Middle North climate, dams, reservoirs and diversions, Platte-Scotts Bluff, Upper Laramie, Lower hydrology, habitat types, land use and Laramie, Horse, and a minor piece of Pumpkin classifications are detailed in the 2010 SWAP. basin. In the South Platte, major drainages with portions in Wyoming include Cache la Poudre, Lone Tree-Owl, Crow, Upper Lodgepole, Wyoming State Wildlife Action Plan - 2017 Page III – 15 - 2 Aquatic Basins Wyoming Game and Fish Department Platte River Basin Figure 7. Platte River Basin. Aquatic Wildlife The Platte River Basin has six native game fish and 27 native nongame fish (Table 7). Six of Fish these are believed to be extirpated from the A detailed history of fish collections and surveys basin (Table 7). A total of 21 game fishes and in this basin, which began in the mid 19th eight nongame fishes have been introduced to century is chronicled in the 2010 SWAP. These the basin (Table 7). Two game species and 13 surveys and collections are the basis for nongame species are currently considered describing the native fish community. The 2010 SGCN. SWAP also includes a summary of fish introductions to the basin. Most introductions were conducted by the WGFD but others were illegal or inadvertent. Wyoming State Wildlife Action Plan - 2017 Page III – 15 - 3 Aquatic Basins Wyoming Game and Fish Department Platte River Basin Table 7. Fishes present in the Platte River Basin. * denotes Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). E denotes extirpated from the basin. Native game Native nongame Nonnative game Nonnative nongame Black Bullhead Bigmouth Shiner* Bonneville Cutthroat Brook Stickleback Channel Catfish Brassy Minnow* Black Crappie Common Carp Greenback Cutthroat Central Stoneroller Bluegill Emerald Shiner TroutE Common Shiner* Brook Trout Gizzard Shad Sauger*E Creek Chub Brown Trout Golden Shiner Shovelnose Sturgeon*E Fathead Minnow Colorado River Cutthroat Goldfish Stonecat Flathead Chub* Freshwater Drum Grass Carp Goldeye*E Golden Trout Spottail Shiner Hornyhead Chub* Grayling Iowa Darter* Green Sunfish Johnny Darter Kokanee Salmon Lake Chub Lake Trout Longnose Dace Largemouth Bass Longnose Sucker Pumpkinseed Mountain Sucker Rainbow Trout Orangethroat Smallmouth Bass Darter* Snake River Cutthroat Northern Plains Walleye Killifish* White Crappie Plains Minnow*E Yellow Perch Plains Topminnow* Yellowstone Cutthroat Quillback Red Shiner River Carpsucker Sand Shiner Shorthead Redhorse Sturgeon Chub*E Suckermouth Minnow* White Sucker Aquatic Reptiles The Ornate Box Turtle, a terrestrial turtle, is Four turtles are known to occur in the North mentioned in this section with other turtles for Platte River basin, all of which are considered convenience. Currently, the only record of this native species. The Western Painted Turtle, species in Wyoming is a museum specimen Western Spiny Softshell, and Ornate Box Turtle collected near Fort Laramie. The range of the are SGCN, and the Eastern Snapping Turtle is Ornate Box Turtle may include the North Platte not. The Western Painted Turtle and Eastern River basin near the Nebraska state line. Snapping Turtle are the only species known from the South Platte River basin. The Western Freshwater Mollusks and Crayfishes Spiny Softshell and Western Painted Turtles Wyoming is still in the discovery phase in terms have been documented in the basin east of the of its freshwater bivalve mollusks and Laramie Mountains. gastropods. Although aquatic mollusks are often encountered during invertebrate sampling, few published accounts exist (Beetle 1989, Wyoming State Wildlife Action Plan - 2017 Page III – 15 - 4 Aquatic Basins Wyoming Game and Fish Department Platte River Basin Henderson 1924, Hoke 1979, Hovingh 2004). Table 8. Species of Greatest Conservation The WGFD retains SGCN status for some Need present in the Platte River Basin native bivalve mollusks and many gastropods due to lack of information. However, the Fish Bigmouth Shiner WGFD recently completed native mussel Brassy Minnow surveys statewide, including the Platte River Common Shiner Basin (Mathias 2015). Flathead Chub Hornyhead Chub Two bivalve mussel species are known from the Iowa Darter Platte River basin, the Cylindrical Papershell, Orangethroat Darter and Plain Pocketbook. Cylindrical Papershell Northern Plains Killifish are known from numerous locations in the Plains Topminnow basin. Shells of Plain Pocketbook have been Suckermouth Minnow documented from several locales in the North Platte drainage and a single live specimen was Reptiles collected in 2008. Recent efforts to find Ornate Box Turtle Western Painted Turtle additional Plain Pocketbook have been Western Spiny Softshell unsuccessful. Most of what is known about species presence Crustaceans and distributions of gastropods in the basin are Calico Crayfish Devil Crayfish summarized in Beetle (1989) and Narr (2011). Ringed Crayfish All gastropods in the basin are SGCN due to lack of adequate population and distribution Mollusks information. Cylindrical Papershell Mussel Plain Pocketbook Mussel Little information is available on the distribution of Wyoming crayfishes. Four native species (Calico, Devil, Ringed and Virile Crayfish), have been documented in the Platte River basin (Hubert 1988, 2010). Ringed Crayfish are the only species known in the South Platte River Identification of Conservation Areas basin (Crystal Reservoir). Devil Crayfish are only known from Horse Creek in the North To address needs SGCN in the Platte River Platte River basin. Calico Crayfish are believed basin, conservation priority areas were identified to be the most widespread species in the Platte using a number of available tools (Figure 8). River basin but displacement by Ringed Results from Stewart et al. (2015) guided Crayfish may be occurring. Rusty Crayfish O. prioritization, building upon previous rusticus was illegally introduced in the basin inventories and assessments (i.e., Bestgen 2013, (Wagonhound Creek). At this time it is Moan et al. 2011, Bear 2006). unknown whether attempts at eradication have Priority areas include drainages where native been successful. With the exception of the fish diversity is highest in the basin and includes common Virile Crayfish, all native crayfishes are streams where the density of rare species (e.g., considered SGCN. Orangethroat Darter and Hornyhead Chub) are high. Priority waters include the lower mainstem portions of the North Platte and Laramie Rivers as well as Rawhide Creek, Labonte Creek, Lower