Logan Valley Wildlife Mitigation Project Annual Report 2005 February 2006 DOE/BP-00020865-1 This Document should be cited as follows: Speten, David, "Logan Valley Wildlife Mitigation Project", 2005 Annual Report, Project No. 200000900, 14 electronic pages, (BPA Report DOE/BP-00020865-1) Bonneville Power Administration P.O. Box 3621 Portland, OR 97208 This report was funded by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), U.S. Department of Energy, as part of BPA's program to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the development and operation of hydroelectric facilities on the Columbia River and its tributaries. The views in this report are the author's and do not necessarily represent the views of BPA. Logan Valley Wildlife Mitigation Project (BPA Project # 200000900, Contract # 20865) 2005 Annual Report Covering Activities from 1/1/05 – 12/31/05 Created for: Joe DeHerrera Contracting Officer, Technical Representative Bonneville Power Administration Carolyn St. James General Manager Burns Paiute Tribe Dean Adams Tribal Council Chairman Burns Paiute Tribe Submitted By: David Speten Wildlife Program Manager Department of Fish and Wildlife Burns Paiute Tribe Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Activities .......................................................................................................................... 4 Grazing:........................................................................................................................... 4 Fencing:........................................................................................................................... 4 Noxious Weed Control: .................................................................................................. 5 Timber Thinning:............................................................................................................ 5 Irrigation: ........................................................................................................................ 6 Studies and Monitoring:.................................................................................................. 8 Passive Restoration:........................................................................................................ 9 Small Projects: ................................................................................................................ 9 Administrative Duties:.................................................................................................. 10 Staff:.......................................................................................................................... 10 References...................................................................................................................... 10 List of Figures Figure 1. Logan Valley Wildlife Mitigation Site............................................................... 1 Figure 2: Location of cattle grazing on the Project............................................................ 5 Figure 3: Cattle exclusion fence to protect aspen. .............................................................. 5 Figure 4: Tree thinning in process. ..................................................................................... 6 Figure 5: Burning of slash piles.......................................................................................... 6 Figure 6: Old irrigation canal............................................................................................. 7 Figure 7: Newly created irrigation canal. .......................................................................... 7 Figure 8: Oregon semosphore grass (Pleuropogon oregonus). ......................................... 8 Figure 9: Passive willow regeneration............................................................................... 9 Figure 10: 2005 grass crop................................................................................................. 9 List of Tables Table 1: Special Status Wildlife Species. .......................................................................... 3 i Introduction The Logan Valley Wildlife Mitigation Site (Project) is located south of the Strawberry Wilderness in Grant County, Oregon. The Project consists of 1,760 deeded acres in which Lake Creek, Big Creek, and McCoy Creek combine to form the Malheur River (Figure 1). In 1998, the Burns Paiute Tribe submitted a land acquisition proposal to Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to acquire the Project. In February 2000, the Tribe and BPA entered into a Memorandum of Agreement to fund the acquisition and management of the Project. The MOA requires the Tribe to dedicate the Project to wildlife habitat protection. Study Area Wilderness Boundary OREGON McCoy Creek Lake Creek Big Creek 16rd 0120.5 Miles Logan Valley Wildlife Mitigation Site Figure 1. Logan Valley Wildlife Mitigation Site. 1 Based on a 1986 Oregon Natural Heritage Program assessment, this Project contains one of the best examples of mountain meadows in the ecoregion. Logan Valley is a known birthing area for pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), waterfowl nesting area, and serves as sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) summer habitat. The Project has important populations of the Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda), which breeds in only four areas in Oregon. Other special status species on State or federal lists as threatened, endangered, sensitive and special concern (Table 1) also use the wet meadows, aspen (Populus tremuloides), bottomland forests, lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), uplands and wetlands found on the Project. Habitat protection and enhancement measures will benefit diverse fish and wildlife assemblages and plant communities. Cultural Relationship The Burns Paiute Tribe has significant cultural ties to Logan Valley and the surrounding environs. Prior to contact with white explorers and later the military and pioneers beginning as early as the mid-1800’s, the Northern Paiute people occupied an area from north of the Strawberry Mountains, south to inter mountain Nevada, and from the Cascades east into Montana. The Wadatika people, the ancestors of the Burns Paiute, utilized this extended area, but maintained a primary traditional use area around the Strawberry Mountains, the Malheur River and it tributaries, Malheur and Harney Lakes, the Steens Mountains, and all areas in-between. Within this traditional aboriginal use area both extended and primary, numerous areas were of great importance to the tribe. The Logan Valley was one such area of importance. Post-white contact, a “Snake Indian” or Paiute tribal reservation was created by Presidential Executive Order. The President signed the Executive Order on September 12, 1872 for the 1.8 million acre reservation. Central within this described reservation area is the Logan Valley, a key area of traditional use. The Logan Valley area is known through oral histories and traditions as a seasonally utilized area for such activities as hunting of terrestrial and avian species, fishing primarily for salmon, gathering of food, medicinal, and daily use/craft fiber, and other secular and sacred activities (Elder 71, 1997, Elder 63, 1999, Elder 68, 1999, pers. comm.). Some histories describe pre-white contact Logan Valley as a common meeting place between the Paiutes and non-Paiute Indians for trade, gaming, and other activities (Elder 63, 1999, Elder 68, 1999, pers. comm.). The loss of the Logan Valley area at the time the Reservation was removed from Paiute control and use has precluded much of the traditional activities within the valley for decades, although numerous Paiute descendants continue to return to the Logan Valley area (personal communication, tribal meeting, 2002). The purchase and continued operation of the Project offers the Tribal members a unique opportunity to resume traditional practices and to utilize the unique resources found within the area. 2 Table 1: Special Status Wildlife Species. Adapted from Malheur River Subbasin Assessment and Management Plan (NPCC 2004) Species Latin Name State or federal status Birds Bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus De-listed 8/99, monitoring to 2015 Northern goshawk Accipiter gentiles State sensitive/Federal concern Flammulated owl Otus flammeolus State sensitive White-headed Picoides albolarvatus State sensitive/Federal concern woodpecker Pileated woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus State sensitive Williamson’s sapsucker Sphyrapicus thyroideus State sensitive Pygmy nuthatch Sitta pymaea State sensitive Northern pygmy owl Glaucidium gnoma State sensitive Black rosy finch Leucosticte atrata State sensitive Loggerhead shrike Lanius ludovicianus State sensitive Ferruginous hawk Buteo regalis State sensitive/Federal concern Swainsons hawk Buteo swainsoni State sensitive Bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus State sensitive Greater sandhill crane Grus Canadensis tabida State sensitive Black-throated sparrow Amphispiza bilineata State sensitive Olive sided flycatcher Contopus cooperi Federal concern Greater sage grouse Centrocercus Federal concern urophasianus Willow flycatcher Empidonax traillii Federal concern adastus Yellow-breasted chat Icteria virens Federal concern Lewis’ woodpecker Melanerpes lewis Federal concern Mountain quail Oreortyx pictus Federal concern Amphibians Northern leopard frog Rana pipiens State sensitive Columbia