Palouse Subbasin Management Plan FINAL DRAFT ~ May 2004 Project Lead: Palouse-Rock Lake Conservation District Trevor Cook, Project Manager PO Box 438 St. John WA 99171 (509) 648-3680 Prepared by: Shelly Gilmore Resource Planning Unlimited, Inc. 1406 East F Street Moscow, ID 83843 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan FINAL DRAFT ~ May 2004 Project Lead: Palouse-Rock Lake Conservation District Trevor Cook, Project Manager PO Box 438 St. John WA 99171 (509) 648-3680 Prepared by: Shelly Gilmore Resource Planning Unlimited, Inc. 1406 East F Street Moscow, ID 83843 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan: Table of Contents i. Introduction i 1. Assessment 1.1 The Palouse Subbasin Of The Past 1-1 1.2 The Present Day Palouse Subbasin 1-2 1.2.1 General Description 1-2 1.2.2 Land Use and Land Ownership 1-3 1.2.3 Jurisdictional Authorities 1-4 1.2.4 Water Resources 1-7 1.2.5 Water Quality 1-9 1.3 Anthropogenic Disturbances 1-13 1.4 Wildlife and Fish Resources 1-14 1.4.1 Historic Habitats 1-14 1.4.2 Current Habitat Types 1-15 1.4.3 Wildlife Resources 1-30 1.4.4 Palouse Subbasin Fauna and Responses to Habitat Changes 1-43 1.4.5 Focal Species 1-50 1.4.6 Fish Resources 1-64 1.4.7 Fish Habitat 1-72 1.5 Limiting Factors 1-75 1.5.1 Agricultural Conversion 1-79 1.5.2 Exotic Vegetation Encroachment 1-86 1.5.3 Timber Harvest 1-88 1.5.4 Fire Suppression 1-88 1.5.5 Urban Development 1-89 1.5.6 Hydropower Development 1-92 1.5.7 Other Limiting Factors 1-92 2. Inventory 2.1 Management Programs and Policies 2-1 2.1.1 At the Local Level 2-1 2.1.2 At the State Level 2-9 2.1.3 At the Federal Level 2-18 3. Management Plan 3.1 Background 3-1 3.2 Vision for Palouse Subbasin 3-2 3.3 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan 3-3 3.3.1 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 1 3-4 3.3.2 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 2 3-5 3.3.3 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 3 3-6 3.3.4 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 4 3-8 3.3.5 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 5 3-9 3.3.6 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 6 3-10 3.3.7 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 7 3-11 3.3.8 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 8 3-12 3.3.9 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 9 3-13 3.3.10 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 10 3-14 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan: Table of Contents (Continued) 3.3.11 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 11 3-15 3.3.12 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 12 3-16 3.3.13 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 13 3-17 3.3.14 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 14 3-18 3.3.15 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 15 3-19 3.3.16 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 16 3-20 3.3.17 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 17 3-20 3.3.18 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 18 3-21 3.3.19 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 19 3-22 3.3.20 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 20 3-22 3.3.21 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 21 3-23 3.3.22 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Objective 22 3-25 3.4 Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives 3-23 4. References 4-1 Appendix A. Priority Habitat Species List Appendix B. Federal and State Listed Species of the Palouse Subbasin Appendix C. Washington and Idaho Partners in Flight List Appendix D. Noxious Weed Lists Appendix E. Technical Team and Working Group Members Appendix F. Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives Pertinent to the Subbasin Palouse Subbasin Management Plan: Table of Contents (Continued) List of Figures Figure 1. Rolling Palouse Hills 1-1 Figure 2. Palouse Subbasin within the Columbia Plateau Province 1-2 Figure 3. Palouse River Falls 1-7 Figure 4. Palouse Subbasin Wildlife Habitat Types 1-18 List of Tables Table 1. Acres of Habitat Types within the Palouse Subbasin 1-20 Table 2. Wildlife Species Occurrences for the Palouse Subbasin 1-33 Table 3. Wildlife Game Species of the Palouse Subbasin 1-42 Table 4. Waterfowl Species Utilizing the Palouse Subbasin 1-46 Table 5. Focal Species within Palouse Subbasin Wildlife Habitat Types 1-52 Table 6. Focal Species Selection for Agricultural Habitat Type 1-53 Table 7. Focal Species Selection for Shrub-Steppe Habitat Type 1-54 Table 8. Focal Species Selection for Ponderosa Pine Habitat Type 1-56 Table 9. Focal Species Selection for Grassland Habitat Type 1-58 Table 10. Focal Species Selection for Mixed Conifer Habitat Type 1-60 Table 11. Focal Species Selection for Riparian and Wetland Habitat Type 1-62 Table 12. Fish Species Present in Palouse Subbasin 1-65 Table 13. Fisheries Data for the Palouse River 1-67 Table 14. WDFW Lake Management Strategies 1-74 Table 15. Summary of Agricultural Conversion Limiting Factor 1-76 Table 16. Effects of Exotic Vegetation Encroachment 1-76 Table 17. Effects of Timber Harvest 1-77 Table 18. Effects of Fire Suppression 1-77 Table 19. Effect of Urban Development 1-77 Table 20. Effects of Hydropower Development 1-78 Table 21. Effects of Other Limiting Factors 1-78 Table 22. Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Summary 3-3 Table 23. Palouse Subbasin Management Plan Strategies and the RPAs Addressed 3-25 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan i. Introduction FINAL DRAFT ~ May 2004 Palouse Subbasin Management Plan: INTRODUCTION i. Introduction The Palouse subbasin management plan was developed as part of the rolling provincial review process developed by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) for each of the 62 subbasins in the Columbia River Basin. Subbasin plans will be reviewed and adopted into the NWPCC’s Columbia Fish and Wildlife Program to help direct Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) funding of projects aimed at protection, mitigation and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitats adversely impacted by the development and operation of the Columbia River hydropower system. The NWPCC, BPA, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) intend to use subbasin plans to help meet the requirements of the 2000 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion. The subbasin plan is also intended to provide a resource for use by USFWS as a part of threatened and endangered species recovery planning. Initial planning began with the designation of Palouse-Rock Lake Conservation District (PRLCD) as the lead entity. In June 2003, the PRLCD was awarded a budget of $29,635 to develop the Palouse subbasin management plan. The lead entity’s responsibility, serving as a contractor to the NWPCC, was to initiate the planning process. The manager of PRLCD, Trevor Cook, served as the subbasin coordinator. The subbasin coordinator provided leadership throughout the process, served as a contact point, and coordinated communication between various stakeholders and interested parties. PRLCD subcontracted with Resource Planning Unlimited, Inc. (RPU) in June 2003 to facilitate the planning process, write and edit management plan components. To enable a coordinated ecosystem-based approach to fish and wildlife habitat protection and restoration efforts, the PRLCD convened the Palouse subbasin Technical Team (Technical Team). The Technical Team is comprised of fish and wildlife agency representatives with jurisdictional authority within the Palouse subbasin. These team members assisted in developing all sections of the plan, including the assessment; inventory; and management. A Palouse subbasin Working Group (Working Group) was developed by PRLCD. The Working Group was comprised of representatives from fish and wildlife habitat interests throughout the Palouse subbasin. (Technical Team and Working Group members listed in Appendix E.) Two methods of plan development were used to craft the Palouse subbasin management plan and accompanying components; group meetings and individual meetings. Beginning in October 2003, draft documents were sent via electronic mail to Technical Team and Working Group members on three occasions, providing an opportunity to assist and comment in developing an inventory of past and ongoing projects, defining critical issues, recommending guiding principles, and identified alternative solutions. Along with the draft document distributions were accompanying meetings which were held to review and contribute to plan development. Meetings were held on three occasions throughout the planning process with all meetings open to the public. Agency and public participation in group meetings and document review was limited; however, in addition to Technical Committee meetings, individual meetings were held between Technical Team members, subbasin coordinator and the contractor to review and revise the plan. The individual contacts, in addition to the group sessions, were effective for revising draft documents for submittal, review and comments. Introduction: Page - i Palouse Subbasin Management Plan: INTRODUCTION The Palouse subbasin management plan is comprised of three parts; the Assessment, Inventory, and Management Plan. The three components are interdependent, while each plays a unique role in understanding the characteristics, management history, and visions for the future of the Palouse subbasin. The Palouse subbasin management plan’s components include: • Assessment: The assessment characterizes historic and current biophysical conditions in the Palouse subbasin. It represents an interdisciplinary effort by multiple agencies to provide necessary technical information to guide actions to restore and conserve fish and wildlife habitat within the Palouse subbasin. The assessment provides the analysis and background information to support the recommendations made in the Palouse subbasin management plan. • Inventory: The inventory includes information on existing fish and wildlife protection, restoration, artificial production activities, and management plans within the subbasin.