The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture

Transcription

1 The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture Annual Report October 1, 2009-September 30, 2010

2 The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture and the Science of Conservation The role of the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture is to ensure that our landscape provides sufficient high-quality habitat, now and in the future, to sustain healthy populations of native birds, including the millions of waterfowl that stop over in the Rainwater Basin during spring migration. We use a strategic and science-based approach to habitat conservation, linking habitat goals directly to the physiological needs of priority wildlife species. GIS analysis provides a base-line understanding of current habitat conditions, and decision support tools help us identify the sites where habitat conservation is likely to provide the greatest benefit to wildlife. In the Rainwater Basin, our specific goal is for the region s wetlands to annually provide migrating waterfowl with 4.4 billion kilocalories derived from wetland plants a three-fold increase over the amount presently available. Our success will require not just more acres, but strategic and sustainable habitat conservation, based on the integrity of protected wetlands and restored watersheds. The Joint Venture s on-the-ground habitat work is focused in the Rainwater Basin; however, our biological planning and conservation design activities encompass all the mixed-grass prairie region of Nebraska. Through our support of regionwide monitoring and research, we continually evaluate progress and adapt to challenges on the way to our goals. Coordinator, Andy Bishop Management Board Bob Bettger, Chair Fillmore County Landowner Peter Berthelsen Pheasants Forever Steve Donovan Ducks Unlimited Ardell Epp Hamilton County Landowner Gloria Erickson Phelps County Landowner Ken Feather Upper Big Blue Natural Res. District Mace Hack, Ph. D. The Nature Conservancy Matt Hogan Tim McCoy, Ph. D. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Michael Onnen NE Assn. of Natural Resources Districts Larry Reynolds/Dave Raffety Tri-Basin Natural Resources District Steve Shaw Little Blue Natural Resources District Randy Stinnette Clay County Landowner Mel Taylor Fillmore County Landowner Britt Weiser Natural Resources Conservation Service Technical Committee Jonas Davis, chair Ducks Unlimited James Dubovsky Kenny Dinan Ted LaGrange Nebraska Game & Parks Commission Gene Mack Ritch Nelson Natural Resources Conservation Service John Heaston The Nature Conservancy John Thorburn Tri-Basin Natural Resources District Mark Vrtiska, Ph. D. Nebraska Game & Parks Commission

3 The Year in Review Our major efforts in 2010 focused on refining and articulating our region s long-term habitat needs, and on identifying sustainable methods of reaching our habitat goals. Our longterm vision rests not simply on acquiring more wetland acres, but on improving and maintaining the quality of already-protected conservation lands, to get the greatest possible habitat value from every acre. In particular, we are concentrating our efforts on vegetation management tools, including grazing, and on hydrologic restoration of watersheds to improve wetland function. Another important initiative is the development of long-term conservation programs on private land. The RWBJV partnership made significant progress in this regard when WRP specialist Jeremy Jirak was hired by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in January, with support from the RWBJV. Jeremy is responsible for promoting the NRCS s Wetlands Reserve Program in 23 counties, including the Rainwater Basin. In February, we received approval for a Special Initiative under NRCS s Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. The Rainwater Basin Watershed Initiative is focused on filling abandoned irrigation re-use pits located in the watersheds of state Wildlife Management Areas, federal Waterfowl Production Areas, and other priority wetlands. The Special Initiative was developed specifically for the Rainwater Basin, based on our research indicating that the program would benefit local producers while improving the hydrology on the affected wetlands. RWBJV GIS Specialist Roger Grosse worked with the Private Lands Work Group to develop scoring criteria for the WHIP Special Initiative. The model incorporated pit volume and proximity to the public area to generate a relative score for the over 800 pits in the watersheds of public wetlands. The model results were compiled into a map book and distributed to Private Lands staff for use in prioritizing their marketing efforts. By June, agreements were in place to fill over 40 pits. In the spring, we expanded our program of outreach to agricultural organizations, including Nebraska Cattlemen, the Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition, the Farm Bureau, and the Sand County Foundation. We continue to discuss the value of grazing as a mutually beneficial land use that provides a financial return to livestock producers, and at the same time is an economically sustainable element of vegetation management in Rainwater Basin wetlands. Properly timed grazing can help maintain a wetland s vegetation community in the early successional state that provides the most suitable migration habitat for waterfowl. Combined with other management tools, such as prescribed fire, grazing can help control the in-

4 Year in Review, contd. vasive plant species that would otherwise degrade wetland habitat. The Nebraska Environmental Trust continues to be an invaluable source of support for conservation activities. In 2010 we were awarded an additional $400,000 for the final year of funding on a two-year Wetland Habitat, Restoration, Protection and Enhancement Grant. We also received approval for first-year funding of $78,750 for a three-year grant entitled Rainwater Basin Wetland Management for Improved Migratory Bird Habitat. In addition, the Joint Venture will serve as administrator for the Hydrologic Restoration of Rainwater Basin Wetlands. This grant, with first-year funding of $115,679, provides an important match to federal dollars in support of our pit-fill programs. In June, the Joint Venture s GIS staff completed the 2010 WRP Model, which served to prioritize sites according to Wetlands Reserve Program ranking criteria, and helped Private Lands personnel focus their marketing efforts. The WRP Model also informed an Acquisition Priority Model, to guide fee title acquisition of additional public lands in the Rainwater Basin. Criteria include: hydric soils, proximity to public property, presence of buildings, and the site s score in the WRP model. As always, acquisitions by RWBJV partners occur only with willing sellers. In July, the Rainwater Basin received the honor of being selected as a site for one of the Listening Sessions under President Obama s new America s Great Outdoors Initiative. The listening session was attended by over 200 people. At the meeting, NRCS Chief Dave White announced that the Rainwater Basin had received approval for a new Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program, which had been requested by the RWBJV. The pilot program modifies the usual terms of WRP by allowing landowners to retain the right to cross a center pivot over a portion of an enrolled wetland. We expect that this new enrollment option will result in a significant increase in long-term conservation enrollments in the Rainwater Basin. Over 3,000 acres were enrolled by the end of FY By the end of Fiscal Year 2010, RWBJV partners had made significant strides in vegetation management on public and private wetlands in the Rainwater Basin. With the help of Nebraska Environmental Trust funding under the Wetland Management grant, we conducted chemical treatment of invasive plants on 1,580 acres of state Wildlife Management Areas, 1,700 acres of federal Waterfowl Production Areas, and 200 acres of private land. NRCS Chief Dave White speaks at Listening Session Gene Mack explains vegetation management at Gleason WPA during 2010 Legislative Tour Vegetation management at Smith WPA, supported by DU, Nebraska Environmental Trust, NAWCA, and other partners, improved habitat for a variety of waterfowl, in spring 2010, including this eared grebe.

5 Making the Farm Bill Work in Nebraska The Joint Venture, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and other partners are cooperating to adapt 2008 Farm Bill programs into initiatives that are specifically suited to the unique characteristics of the Rainwater Basin. The Rainwater Basin Watershed Initiative, developed under NRCS s Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, focuses on removal of abandoned irrigation re-use pits in the watersheds of priority Rainwater Basin wetlands. The majority of the 167 RWB wetlands on state Wildlife Management Areas and federal Waterfowl Production Areas are affected by pits within their watersheds. Many of the pits are no longer in use, because of the widespread adoption of center-pivot irrigation systems. When an abandoned pit is retired or filled, the water it once collected can flow instead to the affected wetland, providing additional habitat; in many cases, the landowner gains additional productive acres. In addition to the NRCS, many partners contributed funding for pit fills, including: the Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund, Partners for Fish and Wildlife, USFWS, NGPC, NAWCA, county road departments, and landowners. Through this program, in 2010 we were able to restore hydrology and improve wetland function at five WPAs, four WMAs, and two wetlands enrolled in the Wetlands Reserve Program. The NRCS s Wetlands Reserve Program, long a cornerstone of the Joint Venture s conservation efforts on private land, has also been adapted to meet the special needs of Rainwater Basin wetlands and agriculture. In 2008, NRCS approved a new WRP enrollment option, under which a participating landowner retains the right to graze an enrolled wetland under an approved grazing program. The Joint Venture supported creation of this enrollment option as a land use that has agricultural value and also helps maintain early-successional wetland plant communities. In 2010, NRCS Chief Dave White announced the approval of a new pilot program that had been requested by the RWBJV. The Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program was developed in response to comments from landowners, who indicated that the inability to cross their center pivot irrigation systems over a WRP wetland prevented them from considering the program. Under easement terms of the new WREP, the landowner retains the right to cross a pivot through the enrolled wetland to irrigate the surrounding cropland or pasture. The measure was an important one, because over two-thirds of the 1,861 still-functioning wetlands in the Rainwater Basin are intersected by pivots. Response to the new program came quickly. Of the eight wetland enrollments in 2010, seven were for the pilot WREP. The results of these programs demonstrate that wildlife and agriculture can not only coexist, but thrive together in south-central Nebraska.

6 Landscape Conservation Cooperatives: A New Partnership Opportunity In 2009, the U.S. Department of the Interior laid the groundwork for a concerted national response to the threats that North American habitats will face in the coming years especially the threats posed by climate change. Some of the challenges include varying precipitation, water scarcity, invasive species, and increasing temperatures. Landscape Conservation Cooperatives region-wide partnerships modeled after North America s eighteen Joint Venture habitat partnerships are part of the science-based approach to integrating conservation and climate-change science. LCC s are intended to build upon and complement the biological planning, monitoring, and other conservation science work of the Joint Ventures. The first LCC s were established in 2010, including the Great Plains LCC, which covers Bird Conservation Regions 18 (Shortgrass Prairie) and 19 (Central Mixed Grass Prairie). Thus, the boundaries of the GPLCC coincide roughly with those of the RWBJV and Playa Lakes Joint Venture. The RWBJV will be an active participant in the GPLCC; Bob Bettger, chair of the Joint Venture s management board, serves on the LCC s steering committee, and Joint Venture coordinator Andy Bishop serves on the Science Committee. The RWBJV, through its GIS capabilities, has earned a reputation for using science to inform its conservation activities. We anticipate a fruitful collaboration with the GPLCC, in which we share expertise and leverage the resources of this high-priority, science-based initiative.

7 Income and Expenses Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2010 Income U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Allocation 489, Grants Nebraska Environmental Trust Grants, 2010 Awards Wetland Habitat Restoration, Protection & Enhancement, year 2 funding 400, Hydrologic Restoration of RWB Wetlands 115, RWB Wetland Management for Improved Migratory Bird Habitat 78, Building Capacity of Success, NE Bird Partnership 43, Nebraska Environmental Trust Grants, remaining awards Mae Carey Working Landscape Easement 183, Wetland Habitat Restoration, Protection & Enhancement, year 1 funding 284, Hiebner Working Landscapes Easement 346, South-Central NE LiDAR Project 14, Macon Lakes Restoration 112, Conservation Easement Initiative 381, Wetland Habitat Restoration, Protection & Enhancement 214, Total Grants 2,175, Total Income $2,664, Expenses U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Allocation Regional Overhead and Administrative Support 30, Coordination 176, Communications and Planning 13, Monitoring, Evaluation and Research 34, Project Development and Implementation 46, , Nebraska Community Foundation Cooperative Agreement Coordination 31, Communications and Planning 30, Monitoring, Evaluation and Research 15, Project Development and Implementation 110, Total NCF Cooperative Agreement 187, Net USFWS Allocation 489, Nebraska Environmental Trust Grant Funds, expended and committed Expended Committed Wetland Habitat Restoration, Protection & Enhancement 214, Conservation Easement Initiative 381, Hiebner Working Landscapes Easement , South-Central NE LiDAR Project 14, Macon Lakes Restoration Project 6, , Mae Carey Estate Working Landscape Easement , Wetland Habitat Restoration, Protection & Enhancement , , Hydrologic Restoration of RWB Wetlands , RWB Wetland Management for Improved Migratory Bird Habitat 59, , Building Capacity of Success, NE Bird Partnership 14, , , ,334, Total Grant Funds 2,175, Total Expenses $ 2,664,934.78

8 Rainwater Basin Joint Venture Partners include: Rainwater Basin landowners Nebraska Environmental Trust Ducks Unlimited Little Blue Natural Resources District Natural Resources Conservation Service Nebraska Association of Natural Resources Districts Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Pheasants Forever The Nature Conservancy Tri-Basin Natural Resources District Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District County Highway Departments.and many other groups and individuals