U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge Mailing address: Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment • September 2010 Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge 9500 Thornton Avenue Newark, CA 94560 Ellicott Slough 510/792-0222 Fax: 510/792-5828 http://www.fws.gov/sfbayrefuges/Ellicott/ National Wildlife Refuge California Relay Service TTY: 1 800/735-2929 Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan Voice: 1 800/735-2922 and Environmental Assessment U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1 800/344-WILD September 2010 http://www.fws.gov September 2010 Santa Cruz long-toed salamander Photo: S.Ruth and E.F. Katibah Disclaimer CCPs provide long term guidance for management decisions and set forth goals, objectives, and strategies needed to accomplish refuge purposes and identify the Service’s best estimate of future needs. These plans detail program planning levels that are sometimes substantially above current budget allocations and, as such, are primarily for Service strategic planning and program prioritization purposes. The plans do not constitute a commitment for staffing increases, operational and maintenance increases, or funding for future land acquisition. Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Final Environmental Assessment Prepared By US Fish and Wildlife Service San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex 9500 Thornton Avenue Newark, California 94560 and Pacific Southwest Region 2800 Cottage Way, W-1832 Sacramento, California 95825 September 2010 Table of Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms ..........................................................................................................................vi Chapter 1. Introduction and Background. ............................................................................................ 1 1.1 Purpose and Need for this CCP . ........................................................................................... 1 1.2 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Wildlife Refuge System . ............. 2 1.2.1 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. .................................................................................... 2 1.2.2 The National Wildlife Refuge System. ....................................................................... 2 1.2.3 National Wildlife Refuge System Mission and Goals. .............................................. 2 1.3 Legal and Policy Guidance. ..................................................................................................... 2 1.3.1 The Improvement Act . ............................................................................................... 3 1.3.2 Refuge System Policies . ............................................................................................... 3 1.4 San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex. ...................................................... 3 1.5 Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge. ............................................................................. 3 1.5.1 Location. ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.5.2 Refuge Setting. .............................................................................................................. 3 1.5.3 History of Refuge Establishment and Acquisition. .................................................. 4 1.5.4 Refuge Purposes . .......................................................................................................... 7 1.5.5 Ecosystem Context and Related Projects. ................................................................ 8 1.5.6 Conservation Priorities and Initiatives. ..................................................................... 8 1.5.7 Adaptive Management. ................................................................................................. 8 Chapter 2. The Comprehensive Conservation Planning Process. ................................................... 9 2.1 The Planning Process: How the CCP was Developed. ....................................................... 9 2.1.1 Preplanning. ................................................................................................................... 9 2.1.2 Planning Hierarchy. ...................................................................................................... 9 2.1.3 The Core Planning Team. ............................................................................................. 10 2.1.4 The Extended Planning Team. .................................................................................... 10 2.2 Public Involvement in Planning. ............................................................................................. 11 2.2.1 Issues, Concerns, and Opportunities Identified through Scoping. ......................... 11 2.2.2 Additional Management Issues Identified by Staff through Scoping. ................... 11 2.3 Development of Refuge Vision. .............................................................................................. 11 2.4 Development of Refuge Goals, Objectives and Strategies. ................................................. 12 2.4.1 Goals . ............................................................................................................................. 12 2.4.2 Objectives, Rationale, and Strategies. ........................................................................ 12 2.5 Development of Alternatives. ................................................................................................. 12 2.6 Selection of the Refuge Proposed Action. ............................................................................. 13 2.7 Plan Implementation................................................................................................................ 13 Chapter 3. Refuge and Resource Description. ..................................................................................... 15 3.1 Geographic/Ecosystem Setting. ............................................................................................. 15 3.2 Description by Refuge Unit. ................................................................................................... 15 Ellicott Slough NWR - Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan iii 3.2.1 Ellicott Unit. ................................................................................................................... 15 3.2.2 Calabasas Unit. .............................................................................................................. 16 3.2.3 Harkins Slough Unit. .................................................................................................... 16 3.2.4 Buena Vista. ................................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Physical Resources. .................................................................................................................. 17 3.3.1 Climate and Air Quality. ............................................................................................... 17 3.3.2 Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions . ................................................... 18 3.3.3 Climate Change Regulation. ........................................................................................ 20 3.3.4 Topography. .................................................................................................................... 20 3.3.5 Geology, Soils, and Hydrology. ..................................................................................... 20 3.3.6 Water Supply and Water Quality. ................................................................................ 22 3.3.7 Hazardous Materials and Contaminants. ................................................................... 24 3.4 Biological Resources. ............................................................................................................... 30 3.4.1 Vegetation. ...................................................................................................................... 30 3.4.2 Wildlife. ........................................................................................................................... 34 3.5 Cultural Resources. .................................................................................................................. 40 3.5.1 Social and Economic Environment. ............................................................................ 40 3.5.2 Demographics. ............................................................................................................... 41 3.5.3 Traffic and Public Access. ............................................................................................. 41 3.5.4 Local Economy and Employment. .............................................................................. 41 3.5.5 Environmental Justice. ................................................................................................. 41 Chapter 4. Current Refuge Management and Programs. ................................................................. 43 4.1 Land Management . ................................................................................................................. 43 4.2 Water Management. ................................................................................................................. 43 4.3 Wildlife Management. .............................................................................................................