Glossary ac—Acre. canopy—Layer of foliage, generally the uppermost accessible—Pertaining to physical access to areas layer, in a vegetative stand; midlevel or under- and activities for people of different abilities, es- story vegetation in multilayered stands. Canopy pecially those with physical impairments. closure (also canopy cover) is an estimate of the A.D.—Anno Domini, “in the year of the Lord.” amount of overhead vegetative cover. adaptive resource management—The rigorous appli- CCP—See comprehensive conservation plan. cation of management, research, and monitoring CFR—See Code of Federal Regulations. to gain information and experience necessary to cfs—Cubic feet per second. assess and modify management activities. It is a cm—Centimeter. process that uses feedback from research, moni- CO2—Carbon dioxide. toring, and evaluation of management actions to Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)—Codification of the support or modify objectives and strategies at general and permanent rules published in the Fed- all planning levels. It is also a process in which eral Register by the Executive departments and the Service carries out policy decisions within a agencies of the Federal Government. Each volume framework of scientifically driven experiments to of the CFR is updated once each calendar year. test predictions and assumptions inherent in man- Compact—Montana House Bill Number 717–Bill to agement plans. Analysis of results helps managers Ratify Water Rights Compact. determine whether current management should Compact Commission—Montana Reserved Water continue as is or whether it should be modified to Rights Compact Commission. achieve desired conditions. compatibility determination—See compatible use. alternative—Reasonable way to solve an identified compatible use—Wildlife-dependent recreational use problem or satisfy the stated need (40 CFR 1500.2); or any other use of a refuge or district that, in the one of several different means of accomplishing ref- sound professional judgment of the Director of the uge and district purposes and goals and contribut- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will not materially ing to the Refuge System mission (“Draft Fish and interfere with or detract from the fulfillment of Wildlife Service Manual” 602 FW 1.5). the mission of the Refuge System or the purposes amphibian—Class of cold-blooded vertebrates that of the refuge or district (“Draft Fish and Wildlife includes frogs, toads, and salamanders. Service Manual” 603 FW 3.6). A compatibility de- annual—Plant that flowers and dies within 1 year of termination supports the selection of compatible germination. uses and identified stipulations or limits necessary BAER—Burned Area Emergency Response. to ensure compatibility. BAR—Burned Area Rehabilitation. comprehensive conservation plan (CCP)—Document baseline—Set of critical observations, data, or infor- that describes the desired future conditions of the mation used for comparison or a control. refuge or district and provides long-range guid- biological control—Organisms or viruses used to con- ance and management direction for the refuge trol invasive plants or other pests. manager to accomplish the purposes of the refuge biological diversity, biodiversity—Variety of life and or district, contribute to the mission of the Ref- its processes including the variety of living organ- uge System, and meet other relevant mandates isms, the genetic differences among them, and the (“Draft Fish and Wildlife Service Manual” 602 FW communities and ecosystems in which they oc- 1.5). cur (“Fish and Wildlife Service Manual” 052 FW concern—See issue. 1.12B). The National Wildlife Refuge System’s cool-season grass—Grass that begins growth ear- focus is on indigenous species, biotic communities, lier in the season and often becomes dormant in and ecological processes. summer; grasses that germinate at lower tem- biotic—Pertaining to life or living organisms; caused, peratures. Examples of cool-season grasses in the produced by, or comprising living organisms. refuge complex are western wheatgrass, needle breeding habitat—Environment used by migratory and thread, and green needlegrass. birds or other animals during the breeding season. 184 Comprehensive Conservation Plan, Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Montana conservation—Management of natural resources to and operate an artificial lake or raise the water prevent loss or waste; actions may include preser- of a natural lake or stream—by means of dams, vation, restoration, and enhancement. dikes, fills, ditches, spillways, and other struc- conservation easement—Perpetual agreement en- tures—for water conservation, drought relief, tered into by a landowner and the Service by which migratory birds, and other wildlife conservation a landowner gives up or sells one or more of the purposes. rights on their property for conservation purposes, easement, refuge—Easement signed by the land- with terms set by the Service. In return for a owner granting the Service the right to control single lump-sum payment, the landowner agrees hunting and trapping, to maintain a wildlife con- not to drain, burn, level, or fill habitats covered by servation demonstration unit, and to maintain a the easement. Conservation easements generally closed refuge and reservation for migratory birds prohibit the cultivation of grassland and wetland and other wildlife. habitats while still permitting the landowner tra- EC—Electrical conductivity. ditional grazing uses. A single-habitat conservation ecosystem—Dynamic and interrelating complex of easement is often referred to as either a wetland plant and animal communities and their associated easement or a grassland easement. nonliving environment; a biological community, coordination area—Wildlife management area made together with its environment, functioning as a available to a State by a “cooperative agreement unit. For administrative purposes, the U.S. Fish between the United States Fish and Wildlife Ser- and Wildlife Service has designated 53 ecosystems vice and the State fish and game agency pursuant covering the United States and its possessions. to section 4 of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination These ecosystems generally correspond with wa- Act (16 U.S.C. 664); or (B) by long-term leases tershed boundaries and their sizes and ecological or agreements pursuant to the Bankhead–Jones complexity vary. Farm Tenant Act (50 Stat. 525; 7 U.S.C. 1010 et ecotype—Subspecies or race that is especially seq.).” States manage coordination areas, but they adapted to a particular set of environmental con- are part of the Refuge System. CCPs are not re- ditions. quired for coordination areas. emergent—Plant rooted in shallow water and having cover, cover type, canopy cover—Present vegetation most of the vegetative growth above water such of an area; also see canopy. as cattail and hardstem bulrush. cultural resources—Remains of sites, structures, or endangered species, Federal—Plant or animal spe- objects used by people in the past. cies listed under the Endangered Species Act of dense nesting cover (DNC)—Composition of grasses 1973, as amended, that is in danger of extinction and forbs that allows for a dense stand of vegeta- throughout all or a significant portion of its range. tion that protects nesting birds from the view of endangered species, State—Plant or animal species predators, usually consisting of one to two species in danger of becoming extinct or extirpated in a of wheatgrass, alfalfa, and sweetclover. particular State within the near future if factors DEQ—Montana Department of Environmental Quality. contributing to its decline continue; species with district—See wetland management district a population at a critically low level or having district purpose—See purpose of the refuge. habitat that has been degraded or depleted to a disturbance—Significant alteration of habitat struc- significant degree. ture or composition from natural causes such as environmental assessment (EA)—Concise public docu- wildfire or human-caused activities and develop- ment, prepared in compliance with the National ment such as timber harvest and road building. Environmental Policy Act, that briefly discusses DNC—See dense nesting cover. the purpose and need for an action and alterna- DNRC—Montana Department of Natural Resources tives to such action and that provides sufficient and Conservation. evidence and analysis of impacts to determine drawdown—Manipulating the water level in an im- whether to prepare an environmental impact poundment to allow for the natural drying-out statement or finding of no significant impact (40 cycle of a wetland. CFR 1508.9). duck, dabbling—Duck that mainly feeds on vegetable EPA—U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. matter by upending on the water surface or by evapoconcentration—Concentration of chemical con- grazing and only rarely dives. stituents in a liquid due to evaporative processes. duck, diving—Duck that mainly feeds by diving extinction—Complete disappearance of a species through the water. from the earth; no longer existing. EA—See environmental assessment. extirpation—Extinction of a population; eradication of easement, flowage—Easement signed by the land- a species within a specified area. owner granting the Service the right to maintain °F—Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. GLOSSARY 185 fauna—Vertebrate and invertebrate animals in an goal—Descriptive, open-ended, and often broad area. statement of desired future conditions that con- Federal trust resource—Resource managed by one veys a purpose but does