Restoration in the Context of NRDA Claims STRATUS CONSULTING

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1 Restoration in the Context of NRDA Claims

2 Overview Natural resource restoration Improvement or creation of natural resources Increase in tribal members interactions with natural resources Use of natural resource restoration as a means of compensation for natural resource damages Natural resource damage assessments Examples of restoration Challenges

3 Restoration in the Context of Natural Resource Damage Assessments Contamination of natural resources may affect the use of resources Restoration actions can offset the lost use There needs to be a balancing between losses and benefits Types of uses Amount of uses

4 Focus Restoration as a means to promote tribal use and benefit of resources Cultural/ceremonial uses Recreational Subsistence Commercial

5 Major Questions Are there specific tribal uses and benefits that can be addressed through the natural resource restoration? How can restoration projects be designed to specifically provide those uses and benefits? How do we incorporate Traditional Ecological Knowledge into the restoration process?

6 Restoration Project Examples Unalaska, AK Oneida Fishery Restoration Center Santa Clara Canyon Watershed Restoration Shitike Creek Channel Restoration Nez Perce Precious Lands Conservation Agency Creek Stream Restoration

7 Kuroshima (Unalaska, AK) Oiled public use beaches Loss of shellfishing opportunities Damage to additional resources from clean-up

8 Qawalangin Environmental Education Funding for improvements Qawalangin Tribe s summer youth camp, Camp Qungaayux Focus on environmental education aimed at traditional subsistence harvesting, cultural activities, and environmental activities Purchase of tent platforms, weather ports, and potable water and sanitation facilities to also be publicly available when not used by the Tribe Beach cleanup activities

9 Green Bay/Fox River, WI Injury PCB contamination of water, sediments, and floodplain Restoration Wetland protection and restoration Focus on resources of tribal importance Stream restoration Invasive species control Waterfowl habitat Fishery management and outreach

10 Oneida Tribe Oneida Lake Fishery Restoration Community Outreach

11 Santa Clara Canyon Watershed Restoration: Overview Santa Clara Pueblo Tribe, New Mexico Restoration of watershed damaged by fire, causing severe erosion Approximately 55,000 acres of restoration planned Restored watershed around Puye cliff dwellings with native plants and conifers Removed exotics, including tamarisk, Siberian elm, and Russian olive Removed sediment from over 10 miles of streams

12 Santa Clara Canyon Watershed Restoration: Fire

13 Santa Clara Canyon Watershed Restoration: Reforestation

14 Santa Clara Canyon Watershed Restoration: Stream Restoration

15 Santa Clara Canyon Watershed Restoration: Cultural Components Impetus for creation of forestry department and tribal management of land formerly managed by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Restoration of resources of tribal importance Conifers (Douglas fir, blue stem willow, Douglas spruce) Animals (elk, beaver, trout) Water quality Capacity building Construction knowledge more than 20 tribal members

16 Shitike Creek Channel Restoration: Overview Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon Restoration of stream channel and off- channel habitat on creek near community 3,300 feet of stream channel 2,800 feet of off-channel habitat 2 acres of flow-through wetland Restored complexity and sinuosity to creek to enhance salmonid spawning

17 Shitike Creek Channel Restoration: Before Restoration

18 Shitike Creek Channel Restoration: After Restoration

19 Shitike Creek Channel Restoration: Cultural Components Restoration of salmonid spawning and fishery Immediately after construction spawning increased five-fold 5 fall Chinook redds observed 118 steelhead/redband redds counted Plants of tribal importance Longstem bullrush Native chokecherries

20 Shitike Creek Channel Restoration: Tribal Components Tribal uses tribal youth program: sweat lodge along creek Capacity building Tribal members involved in construction process

21 Nez Perce Precious Lands Conservation: Overview Nez Perce Tribe Conservation of ancestral lands > 15,000 acres in Washington and Oregon Tribe used to winter in the canyons and move uphill in the spring, using nearby resources Native grass and bulb replanting Ongoing research and planning Vegetation management to control invasive species and restore native species

22 Nez Perce Precious Lands Conservation: Aspen Replanting

23 Nez Perce Precious Lands Conservation: Grazing Management

24 Nez Perce Precious Lands Conservation: Tribal Components Culturally significant activities permitted Focus on tribally important species (e.g., bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, native grouse, golden eagle, red-tailed hawk, steelhead) Tribal use encouraged Horse tours to introduce tribal members to lands

25 Nez Perce Precious Lands Conservation: Cultural Components Everyone welcome (non-tribal members included) Construction Replanting and invasive removal done by Tribe

26 Agency Creek Stream Restoration: Overview Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon Restoration of streams impacted by logging Removal of 13 culverts opened approximately 20 miles of stream to fish Added large woody debris logs that create habitat complexity and provide shelter for fish Replanted trees in riparian habitat for shade and future inputs of large woody debris Supplemented streams with salmon carcasses from hatcheries

27 Agency Creek Stream Restoration: Overview (cont.) Constructed fish weir to count returning coho and steelhead Creek is only 0.3% of Willamette basin but 3% of fish in basin now spawn there

28 Agency Creek Stream Restoration: Culvert Improvements Before After

29 Agency Creek Stream Restoration: Log Addition (Large Woody Debris)

30 Agency Creek Stream Restoration: Carcass Addition

31 Agency Creek Stream Restoration: Fish Weir

32 Agency Creek Stream Restoration: Coho Salmon

33 Agency Creek Stream Restoration: Cultural Components Restoration of resources of tribal importance Coho and steelhead Restoration of reservation streams from degraded condition after logging Collaboration with education department to introduce students to restoration program Construction Tribal Fish and Wildlife Program

34 Challenges Damage quantification can be difficult Tribal uses not commonly valued in monetary terms Restoration of tribal uses not a simple process Reluctance to accept damages ($) for less than complete restoration to baseline

35 Sources Personal communications Brad Houslet and Scott Turo, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon Keith Lawrence and Angela Sondenaa, Nez Perce Tribe J. Michael Chavarria, Santa Clara Pueblo Kelly Dirksen, Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Reservation of Oregon Bowden, C Native Lands. National Geographic. August. Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Salmon Success in the Umatilla River! Nez Perce, Umatilla, Yakama and Warm Springs Tribes Tribal Pacific Lamprey Restoration Plan for the Columbia River Basin. Formal Draft. May 15.

36 Sources (cont.) Santa Clara Pueblo Santa Clara Pueblo Beaver Habitat Restoration in the Jemez Mountains. 0Santa_Clara_Beaver_Habitat.pdf. Seminole Tribe of Florida Culture: Who We Are. Sondenaa, A. and S. Kozusko Precious Lands Wildlife Area Draft Management Plan. November. Prepared for Bonneville Power Administration. Trees Foundation Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council.