Auggie Creek Restoration/Fuels Project Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Plant Report Darlene Lavelle December 17, 2008 Introduction The Seeley Lake Ranger District, Lolo National Forest (LNF), is proposing a restoration project designed to restore forest conditions on approximately 965 acres of Forest Service lands within the Auggie, Seeley, and Mountain Creek drainages. The vegetation treatments are designed to develop a diverse mix of vegetative composition and structure, reduce the risk of bark beetle infestations, and reduce the threat of sustained high intensity wildfire in the wildland-urban interface. Commercial and noncommercial treatments are proposed to reduce stand density, ladder fuels and ground litter, and some dead and down woody debris. Reducing fuels would thereby reduce the risk from insect and disease damage and also the potential for high intensity natural fires around private homes. Fire would also allow an increase of nutrients to plants on the site. Other project proposals include: • Herbicide treatment of weeds along the approximate 12.45 miles of timber haul routes and landings and the approximate 2.37 miles of stored or decommissioned roads mentioned below; • Build about 0.59 miles of temporary road for tree harvest and then decommission these roads. • Store about 1.78 miles of road (close roads to vehicular traffic but keep roads for future use) • Plant western larch and Douglas-fir on about 44 acres within the commercial treatment units to enhance species diversity. • Replace two culverts which are fish barriers, along Swamp Creek and Trail Creek. • Implement additional best management practices (BMPs) involving road drainage at the Morrell Creek Bridge. Forest Plan and Regulatory Framework Forest Service Manual (FSM) directions 2670.11, 2670.21 and 2670.31, and the Lolo National Forest Plan standards 24 and 27, require that the LNF not only manage for endangered, threatened, and proposed species, but also recover them. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) states that all federal departments and agencies shall seek to conserve endangered and threatened species. The FSM directs the forests to manage National Forest System habitats and activities for threatened and endangered species to achieve recovery objectives so that special protection measures provided under the ESA are no longer necessary. The Lolo Forest Plan follows this direction and states all threatened and endangered species occurring on the LNF will be managed for recovery to a non-threatened status. The Forest Service Manual (FSM) and the Lolo National Forest Plan require the Lolo National Forest (LNF) to manage for sensitive species. The FSM defines sensitive species as those plants identified by the Regional Forester for which population viability is a concern, as evidenced by 1 significant current or predicted downward trends in population numbers, density or habitat capability that would reduce a species distribution (FSM 2670.5(19)). The FSM directs the forests to develop and implement management practices to ensure that sensitive species do not become threatened or endangered because of Forest Service actions (FSM 2670.22 and 2670.32). Lolo Forest Plant standard 27 also directs the forest to manage sensitive species to maintain population viability. There are no forest management areas specific to sensitive species. Species of Interest and Species of Concern The Lolo NF will be revising the Forest Plan which provides similar direction for plant species of interest and concern, as well as the Regional Forester’s sensitive plants. Some of the current sensitive species are species of interest (SOI) or species of concern (SOC). Species of interest are plants that have been assigned a state rank of S1 or S2 and a global rank of G4 or G5 by NatureServe (http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/) in association with the Montana Natural Heritage Program. The lower the number ranking, the higher the threats are to a species. Species of interest also include plants that are of interest to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe, and rare plants on the Lolo NF with limited distribution where viability is a concern. Species of concern are plants that have been assigned a global rank of G1, G2, or G3 by NatureServe. Species of concern are globally rare plants. For a complete definition of SOI and SOC plants see the Forest Service Handbook (FSH) 1901.12, 43.22Band 43.22c. Analysis Area Boundary The Auggie Creek Project area is located in Missoula and Powell Counties. The project consists mainly of two areas, the Auggie Creek treatment area (T17N, R15 W, and portions of Sections 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, and 35) and the Mountain Creek treatment area (T17N, R14W, Sect 32). The analysis area is located east of Seeley Lake and Highway 83 and north and south of Cottonwood Lakes RD 477. Analysis Methods In addition to surveying for rare plants in the analysis area (which is discussed below in the Existing Condition section of this report), a habitat suitability analysis was conducted for 52 sensitive plants, species of concern (SOC), and species of interest (SOI) to determine the potential for occurrence within the analysis area. These 52 plants are listed in Table 1. 2 Table 1. Lolo National Forest - Sensitive & Threatened Species (10/04 List), Species of Concern (SOC), and Species of Interest (SOI) List List Scientific Name Common Name (10/04) SOC SOI Scientific Name Common Name (10/04) SOC SOI Adoxa moschatellina musk-root X X Grindelia howellii Howell's gumweed X X Ageratina occidentalis western snakeroot X X Heterocodon rariflorum rareflower heterocodon X X Allium acuminatum tapertip onion X X Hierochloe hirta ssp. arctica northern sweetgrass X Allotropa virgata sugarstick X Howellia aquatilis (Threatened) water howellia X X Amerorchis rotundifolia roundleaf orchis X X Idahoa scapigera oldstem Idahoa X X Arabis fecunda Mt. Sapphire rockcress X X Kalmia polifolia bog laurel X X Athysanus pusillus common sandweed X X Lagophylla ramoisissima branched hareleaf X Bidens beckii Beck water-marigold X X Lewisia rediviva bitter root X Botrychium paradoxum peculiar moonwort X X Meesia triquetra (moss) meesia moss X X Brasenia schreberi watershield X X Mertensia bella beautiful bluebells X X Camassia quamash small camas X Nymphaea tetragona ssp. Leibergii Leiberg's waterlily X Carex chordorrhiza creeping sedge X X Orobanche fasciculata clustered broomrape X Carex rostrata beaked sedge X X Orogenia fusiformis California Indian potato X X Carex scoparia broom sedge X Phlox kelseyi v. missoulensis Missoula phlox X X Cirsium brevistylum clustered thistle X Potamogeton obtusifolius blunt-leaved pondweed X X Ribes oxyacanthoides ssp. Clarkia rhomboidea diamond clarkia X X cognatum stream currant X Clinopodium douglasii yerba buena X Ribes triste red currant X Claytonia arenicola sand springbeauty X X Scheuchzeria palustris Rannoch-rush X X Cypripedium fasciculatum clustered lady's -slipper X X Schoenoplectus subterminalis swaying bulrush X X Cypripedium parviflorum lesser yellow lady's- slipper X Silene spaldingii (Threatened) Spalding's silene X X Cypripedium passerinum sparrowegg lady's- slipper X X Sphagnum mendocinum Mendocino sphagnum X Drosera anglica English sundew X X Sphagnum riparium streamside sphagnum X Dryopteris cristata crested woodfern X X Synthris canbyi Mission Mountain kittentails X Epipactis gigantea stream orchid X X Trifolium eriocephalum wooly-head clover X X Gentianopsis simplex oneflower fringed gentian X X Trifolium gymnocarpon hollyleaf clover X X Grimmia brittoniae Britton's dry rock moss X X Waldsteinia idahoensis Idaho barren strawberry X X A habitat suitability analysis (pre-field review) was conducted which consists of examining existing information from the following sources: • Aerial photographs • Topographic maps • Lolo NF sensitive plant occurrence maps • Lolo NF sensitive plant field survey records • Lolo NF timber stand database (TSMRS) • Pertinent sensitive species conservation strategies, sensitive species status reviews, and research reports • Forest Habitat Types of Montana (Pfister et al., 1997) • Lolo National Forest Plant Field Guide for Sensitive Plants, Species of Concern, and Species of Interest (Lavelle 2007) which contains plant habitat and location information from Lolo NF data and from the Montana Natural Heritage Program database/element occurrence records (http://nhp.nris.mt.gov/plants/guidebook.asp ) Existing Condition In the project area, forests range from ponderosa pine plantations, park-like open coniferous forests, to mixed species with a closed canopy forest. The highest diversity of the area is within in the wetlands, edges of wetlands, and along the creeks. Over 200 species of vascular plants were identified in the Auggie Creek treatment area alone. 3 The elevation range in the analysis area is mainly 4,100 to 4,400 feet. The Mountain Creek treatment area contains wetlands and a ponderosa pine plantation. There are also stands of mixed coniferous forests in the Mountain Creek portion, containing ( Pinus ponderosa ) ponderosa pine, ( Psuedotsuga menziesii ) Douglas-fir, ( Larix occidentalis ) larch, ( Pinus contorta ) lodgepole, ( Picea engelmannii ) Engelmann spruce, ( Abies grandis ) grand fir, ( Abies lasiocarpa ) subalpine fir, and ( Populus tremuloides ) aspen. A common forest habitat type in the area is Psuedotsuga menziesii/Vaccinium spp. (Douglas-fir/huckleberry). The Auggie Creek treatment area also contains wetlands and mixed coniferous forests. Like Mountain Creek, a common forest habitat