Habitat Restoration and Management Plan Buck Island Ranch Reserve Program Highlands County, Florida LG2ES Project Number 2016-049 Prepared for: United States Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District Prepared by: LG2 Environmental Solutions, Inc. 10475 Fortune Parkway, Suite 201 Jacksonville, Florida 32258 (904) 363-1686 www.lg2es.com December 15, 2017 Habitat Restoration and Management Plan Buck Island Ranch Reserve Program December 15, 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 CONSERVATION PLANNING .................................................................................................. 1 2.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 2 2.1 General Location .............................................................................................................. 2 2.2 Site Description ................................................................................................................ 2 2.3 Restoration Goals and Objectives ....................................................................................... 3 2.4 Historical and Proposed Ecological Communities ................................................................. 4 2.5 Current Site Conditions ..................................................................................................... 4 2.6 Regional Conservation Perspective ..................................................................................... 5 3.0 Soils ................................................................................................................................... 6 4.0 Existing Communities ......................................................................................................... 10 5.0 Proposed Communities ....................................................................................................... 17 6.0 Resource Concerns ............................................................................................................ 18 6.1 Threatened and Endangered Species ............................................................................... 18 6.2 Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council Category I Species .......................................................... 21 6.3 Soil and Water ............................................................................................................... 21 6.4 Existing Infrastructure .................................................................................................... 22 6.4.1 South Marsh ............................................................................................................ 22 6.4.2 East Marsh .............................................................................................................. 22 7.0 Habitat Management Recommendations .............................................................................. 22 7.1 Conservation Practices .................................................................................................... 22 8.0 Exotic and Nuisance Species ............................................................................................... 28 8.1 Invasive Species Management Plan .................................................................................. 28 8.2 Invasive Plant Management Tools .................................................................................... 29 8.2.1 Biological Control ..................................................................................................... 29 8.2.2 Chemical Controls .................................................................................................... 30 8.2.3 Herbicide Application Methods .................................................................................. 31 8.2.4 Herbicide Toxicity to Wildlife ..................................................................................... 31 1 Habitat Restoration and Management Plan Buck Island Ranch Reserve Program December 15, 2017 8.2.5 Manual and Mechanical Removal ............................................................................... 32 8.2.6 Cultural Practices ..................................................................................................... 32 8.2.7 Prescribed Burning ................................................................................................... 33 8.2.8 Water Level Manipulation ......................................................................................... 33 8.2.9 Re-establishment of Native Plant Species ................................................................... 34 8.3 Species Specific Treatment Methods ................................................................................ 34 8.3.1 Air Potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) ................................................................................ 34 8.3.2 Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius) .................................................................. 36 8.3.3 Caesar Weed (Urena lobata) ..................................................................................... 38 8.3.4 Chinaberry (Melia azedarach).................................................................................... 40 8.3.5 Chinese Tallow (Triadica sebifera) ............................................................................. 41 8.3.6 Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) .............................................................................. 42 8.3.7 Common Guava (Psidium guajava) ............................................................................ 44 8.3.8 Lantana (Lantana camera) ........................................................................................ 46 8.3.9 Napier Grass (Pennisetum purpureum) ...................................................................... 47 8.3.10 Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium microphyllum) ..................................................... 48 8.3.11 Paragrass (Urochloa mutica) ..................................................................................... 49 8.3.12 Primrose Willow (Ludwigia peruviana) ....................................................................... 51 8.3.13 Rosary Pea (Abrus precatorius) ................................................................................. 52 8.3.14 Shoebutton Ardisia (Ardisia elliptica).......................................................................... 53 8.3.15 Torpedograss (Panicum repens) ................................................................................ 54 8.3.16 Tropical Soda Apple (Solanum viarum) ...................................................................... 56 8.3.17 Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) ....................................................................... 57 8.3.18 Water Lettuce (Pistia statiotes) ................................................................................. 59 8.3.19 West Indian Marsh Grass (Hymenachne amplexicaulis) ............................................... 60 8.3.20 Wild Taro (Colocasia esculenta) ................................................................................ 61 9.0 Wildlife and Threatened/Endangered Species Concerns......................................................... 62 10.0 Summary of Recommended Conservation Practices .............................................................. 62 2 Habitat Restoration and Management Plan Buck Island Ranch Reserve Program December 15, 2017 11.0 References ........................................................................................................................ 65 APPENDICES Appendix A – Figures 1 to 23 Appendix B – Site Photographs 3 Habitat Restoration and Management Plan Buck Island Ranch Reserve Program December 15, 2017 1.0 CONSERVATION PLANNING The NRCS Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) was originally authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985. In 2014, the program was replaced by the Wetlands Reserve Easement (WRE), a component of the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). The ACEP replaces the WRP with the WRE, but does not affect the validity or terms of any WRP contract, agreement or easement entered into prior to the date of enactment (February 7, 2014) or any associated payments required to be made in connection with an existing WRP contract, agreement or easement. The ACEP is a voluntary program to help farmers and ranchers preserve their agricultural land and restore, protect, and enhance wetlands on eligible lands. Under the WRE programs, NRCS protects wetlands by purchasing directly from landowners a reserved interest in eligible land, and providing for the restoration, enhancement, and protection of wetlands and associated lands. Both the WRP and WRE have been used on Buck Island Ranch. Existing WRP and WRE areas will remain intact through the development and implementation of the current Wetland Reserve Plan of Operation (WRPO). However, some changes in the vegetative coverage are expected as these areas adapt to modified hydrology resulting from recommended plan components, discussed in Section 5. The WRPO identifies how ecological functions and values will be restored, enhanced, protected and managed to accomplish the objectives identified for the NRCS easement. In the context of the WRPO, functions are defined as the ecological processes or attributes of a wetland without regard for their importance to society. These attributes include food chain support, ecosystem diversity, fish and wildlife habitat, flood flow alteration, groundwater